221B Hogwarts
by HisAsgardianAngel
Summary: Begins during The Chamber of Secrets and will follow up through the Deathly Hollows, has more adult themes as it goes, hence M rating. It's Sherlock Holmes' first year at Hogwarts, where he meets muggle-born wizard John Watson. As dangers at Hogwarts grow, so does their friendship...but can their relationship last as they help Harry Potter face his greatest enemy? Eventual LoveLock
1. Chapter 1

The smell of coal was thick in the air as the loud whistle of the Hogwarts Express sounded, an indication that it would soon be departing from Platform Nine and Three Quarters. It was a little daunting, that huge train, especially for a muggle-born who had never imagined until two short weeks ago that he'd be anything more than the doctor his parents so wanted him to one day be. That was John, John Hamish Watson, the terrified eleven year old boy who had just left his parents side, his elder sister Harriet shouting abuse as he ran straight through the platform. John took a shaky breath and steadied himself against his trolley, shooting a long glance at his squawking barn owl.

"Now hush, Cas, Harry's yelled at me enough for one day, thanks." He muttered gloomily, looking around anxiously as other students piled on to the train. He was beginning to believe this had all been a mistake, acceptance to Hogwarts or not, he didn't really have to go, did he? These thoughts plagued his mind as he trudged on board, putting his belongings away and beginning to look for a seat. There were so many children piled into the individual cars, and everyone sitting together looked like they were already such good friends. This only furthered John's dismay as he walked all the way to the back of the train, peeking his head in to one section nervously and taking notice that it was only housing one boy.

"U-Um, pardon me but would you mind if I sat with you? All the other seats are full…" A boy with strikingly beautiful blue-ish (they were speckled with green and brown in the most curious way) eyes looked up at him, face pretty much void of emotion save for a hint of loneliness.

"Sure." John smiled gratefully at the boy and sat down in front of him, pulling the sliding doors closed and looking him up and down curiously. He had dark curly hair and was quite tall for a first year, which John assumed he was considering he wasn't in any robes yet. He was wearing a dark blue scarf and an overcoat, fiddling with his long fingers, which were positioned firmly under his chin.

"So, I'm John…John Watson. It's nice to meet you." Things became a little awkward when the boy didn't respond and John took a deep breath, attempting to study his quiet companion. Does he already not like me? He thought to himself. The other male appeared bored out of his mind.

"What's your name? If you don't mind me asking." His attempt at breaking the ice seemed to fail, and he was seriously considering leaving to have one last look for an empty seat before he was finally merited a response.

"My name is Sherlock Holmes, I'm a pureblood wizard, although you may find that that status does me no service as everyone here believes me to be a freak. I have a sixth year older brother named Mycroft who is a Slytherin, treated the same way, and I deduce this to be the main reason other children have avoided me before I even attempt to speak. However you need not tell me about you, I can tell from your lack of judgment that you're clearly muggle-born, first year judging by your clothes and anxious demeanor. I also deduct that you have an elder sister you do not get along with, and that must be because she is a muggle and you are not since I've never met another witch or wizard with such a common last name as Watson. Most people wearing a new jumper that fuzzy would have a slight rash or irritation and your skin is perfectly clear, an indication that you wear this sort of material often, which no offence, tells me that you're quite boring. I find everyone boring, though, so don't think you're special." Sherlock spoke all of this incredibly fast and it was a bit much for John to keep up with, although he did recognize he was being slightly insulted. However, John was so in awe at the intelligence the boy displayed at he forgot the offence almost instantly.

"How did you do that? That's brilliant…." Surprise filled Sherlock's eyes, not expecting that sort of reaction at all. A ghost of a smile crossed Sherlock's lips and he shrugged.

"Don't know, just sort of born that way. My brother and I aren't exactly what you would call normal, personality disorders and all that, you know. Mum had us both tested, I'm apparently a high functioning sociopath." That didn't put John off, a curious light glowing behind his bright blue eyes.

"What's a sociopath?" Sherlock shrugged again.

"I don't know." They both burst into laughter, and suddenly there was a knock on the door. John got up to answer it, feeling a little bit better now that he seemed to have at least made an acquaintance, if not a friend. It was a woman pushing a candy trolley, and John looked expectantly over his shoulder at Sherlock. His look asked helplessly what all of the wizarding candies were and Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"We'll take the lot."

It was while Sherlock was explaining the dangers of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that a petite ginger girl poked her head into their car. She was pale and her clothes were worn, immediately telling Sherlock she was a Weasley, although he wasn't mean enough to say so.

"Hello, excuse me, but I was walking by and saw that neither of you were in your robes…I'm a first year too, but my brother Percy says we should be arriving soon, thought you ought to know." Sherlock raised an eyebrow incredulously at her and she quickly dashed away, the boy turning a lazy expression to his new friend.

"I suppose she was attempting to tell us we ought to change, although I personally view this as fruitless since we'll be changed into different robes quickly after sorting." John thought this was a valid point, but he was most uneager to break the rules on the first day and rose to go change, Sherlock following suit in exasperation. The Weasley girl had been right, however, and it wasn't long after reclaiming their seats that the Hogwarts Express rolled to a stop. An air of excitement suddenly exploded amongst the students, grabbing their belongings and making their way to the boats they must take to the castle. Both Sherlock and John were apprehensive about leaving their belongings for strangers to take care of, particularly Sherlock.

"My cat, Frodo, he really doesn't like people…" Sherlock grumbled in an almost worried tone as he and John floated towards Hogwarts in their boat. John patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"It's alright, at least he isn't as skittish as Castiel, my owl. Poor thing is going to have a heart attack before he ever sees the dormitories." The left side of Sherlock's lips twitched up in a smirk.

"Castiel…that's an interesting name." John chuckled, looking the most nervous he had the entire trip as they neared the castle.

"So is Frodo." Both boys couldn't help the grins that spread across their faces. Neither one of them had expected hitting it off with someone this quickly, especially someone who seemed so different from themselves. The rocky shore of Hogwarts was soon upon them and Sherlock helped his friend from their boat, looking around curiously. He smiled at the awestricken look plastered on John's face….it all must have been so surreal for a muggle-born. Adrenaline had consumed both boys, who raced each other up the castle's steps and into the grand hall, awaiting instruction from an elderly woman standing before them.

"Welcome first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House. It has come time for your sorting, and please note, that while you stay here at Hogwarts your house, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, will be like your home. You will be rewarded and deducted points throughout the year, and the house with the most points at the end of spring semester will have won the House Cup. Now follow me." The first years were all lined up at the front of the hall, the rest of the schools students taking their seats at their designated tables. Terror seized up in John as he stared forward at all the professors, particularly the important looking elderly gentleman seated in the middle. He grabbed on to Sherlock's arm for support, who simply shook his head at him in return.

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" Sherlock's tone was playful, but John wasn't really in the mood.

"No you!" He hissed, silence falling upon him immediately as the elder wizard began to speak and introduce himself and the rest of the staff. There was Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Professor Lockhart, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout, among others. When Dumbledore was finished speaking Professor McGonagall picked up a large list of names on parchment and the ever infamous Sorting Hat.

"Ginny Weasley!" She called out, revealing the name of the ginger they had had an encounter with earlier. Sherlock snorted, he knew he'd been right.

"Gryffindor!" Gryffindor table erupted with applause and she skipped off happily towards who John assumed to be her family.

"Luna Lovegood!" A quirky looking blonde girl sort of absentmindedly waltzed up to the front of the room and sat down on the stool.

"Ravenclaw!" More applause filled the room, whooping and cheering for the strange girl, who headed towards her table in a daze.

"James Moriarty!" The room got particularly silent and John shot worried eyes toward Sherlock.

"What's going on?" The crazed look in James's eyes made the hairs on John's arms stand straight up. Sherlock's eyes were staring James down, responding to John with out breaking that eye contact.

"He's a Moriarty…close relative of the Malfoy's. You're going to want to stay away from them, John, if there is one thing they hate above all else it's muggle-borns." John gulped back the fear that was rising in his throat and blinked back the tears stinging his eyes. He hadn't expected blood-status to be something he could be targeted for, suddenly feeling thankful he'd made friends with a pureblood.

"Slytherin!" Slytherin table roared with applause, but they were the only ones making so much as a peep, furthering John's immense discomfort.

"John Watson!" John nearly choked on the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, earning a squeeze of the hand from Sherlock. John felt tiny as he approached McGonagall, eyeing the Sorting Hat with disdain. Please, he thought to himself. Whatever house I get, let Sherlock get it too.

"Gryffindor!" John decided to sit with the Ginny girl since he recognized her, sitting down in the company of a bunch of red heads, a girl with fuzzy hair, and a lanky boy with circular glasses. A pit was forming in his stomach as he heard Sherlock's name called.

"Sherlock Holmes!" Sherlock took a deep breath, locking eyes with Mycroft who was giving him a you'd-better-be-in-Slytherin death glare. Sherlock and Mycroft's entire family had been in Slytherin house since Hogwarts was founded, and he knew getting sorted into any other house would be a huge blow to his parent's ego. However, turning his eyes from his brother and looking on John, Sherlock found himself hoping he wasn't going to have to leave him all alone.

"Ravenclaw!" John, Mycroft, and Sherlock all felt their hearts sink. All Sherlock could think was Mycroft's gonna kill me!


	2. Chapter 2

News had traveled fast throughout Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that the legendary Harry Potter had illegally flown an enchanted car into the grounds Whomping Willow, breaking over fifty school rules. All the first years were abuzz with gossip, sans Sherlock Holmes, who cared nothing for trivial "chosen ones" and nonsensical words spewed from prepubescent girls during free period. Sherlock was most concerned with his growing boredom, having easily earned top marks in all of his classes already, and his genuine missing of a certain Gryffindor.

Of course Sherlock and John Watson had many classes together, including potions, transfiguration, and defense against the dark arts, though they hadn't had the opportunity to talk much since every time classes had met since the start of their short two weeks at Hogwarts, John had already been seated beside someone else by the time Sherlock made it to class. The young Ravenclaw had become secretly jealous of Ginny Weasley, who no doubt walked to class with John from Gryffindor Common Room, as she was always the one occupying the seat next to the one he so coveted. It was because of this that Sherlock often sat alone, John having been the first and only student to show him an ounce of positive attention.

Being sorted into Ravenclaw had turned out to be the single loneliest thing to ever happen to the clever child, and that was saying a lot. Sherlock had always been seen as a freak for as long as he could remember, but at least before he had had his brother Mycroft for company. Now it seemed even Mycroft wanted nothing to do with him. That was until one rainy Wednesday afternoon, while staring rather intently at John, though the other child hardly took notice as he excitedly showed the Weasley girl the mediocre grade he'd made on his potions essay, that Sherlock noticed he wasn't the only Ravenclaw sitting all by himself.

Luna Lovegood, the blonde he remembered seeing at the sorting ceremony was sitting in a corner by herself, humming an interesting tune to herself as if she had not a care in the world. It was then that John made eye contact with his friend, who shot him nothing more than a lonesome glance before gathering his books to relocate near Luna. John looked guilty and opened his mouth to say something but decided better of it as Ginny began gushing about her brother Charlie's work in Romania. Luna looked more than surprised to see someone joining her, and even more so when she recognized who it was who had sat down.

"Oh, hello Sherlock. Not often I see you mingling with other specimen of human entities." Sherlock nodded curtly and stuck his fingers under his chin, pretending to be interested in Professor Snape.

"Same could be said for you." Luna let out an airy, hardly sane giggle and shrugged her shoulders before looking insecurely down at her hands.

"That's only because I'm not as liked as I would perhaps prefer to be." A smile actually met Sherlock's eyes as he turned toward her, a half way sympathetic expression breaking across his features.

"That's me as well, not a friend to my name, not really." Luna leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed, which completely broke every single one of Sherlock's personal boundaries, his hair standing on end and arms folding up defensively into his chest, though she hardly took any notice.

"Well then Sherlock, you've officially got me."

"_Wonderful_." He drawled sarcastically, although it was clear that he was somewhat pleased with this turn of events. He turned toward her very slightly to catch a glimpse of her features, taking note that she was very fair and seemed to have a permanent look of surprise about her.

_Dirigible plum earrings_

_Smells faintly of butterbeer and parchment_

Sherlock strained to see her face through his peripheral vision, finally getting a good look when Luna removed her head from his shoulder to look at him.

_Those eyes…._

"Thestral's." He muttered, earning very little physical reaction from Luna, whose expression was unwavering.

"Yes, wonderful creatures Thestral's are, though terribly misunderstood. I can see why you relate to them." Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

"Who says I relate to them?" She smiled.

"We may not be friends, Sherlock Holmes, but I know who you are. You're as mistreated as they are, you carry it in your eyes." Sherlock fought the smirk that was breaking onto his face.

"Aren't you perceptive, I was thinking the same of you." Luna nodded matter-of-factly.

"Of course you were, that's why you brought it up." Sherlock had never spoken to a person other than his brother who was capable of keeping up with him intellectually, becoming intrigued by the small blonde as she absentmindedly doodled in her notebook, though her eyes never left his. He was preparing to impress her with the rest of his deductions but she spoke first.

"So I assume you can see them. Who died?" Sherlock shrugged as if he didn't care and turned a bored expression to the teacher.

"No one important. Let's just say that no matter how much I love them, my parents no longer allow me to keep animals. I mean besides Frodo, because I need him." Luna laughed out loud, cupping her hand over her mouth after catching a cold glare from Snape.

"You experimented on them didn't you?" It was less a question and more a statement, Sherlock chuckling deeply as a hint of embarrassment touched his eyes.

"Maybe." Professor Snape walked to the back of the dungeon, his dark eyes looking harsh and spiteful against such sallow skin.

"Mr. Holmes, Miss Lovegood, dare I say I liked you both a lot better when you never spoke. Maybe it is time someone reminded you that misfits such as your selves shouldn't become lost in social excursion and go back to worshiping the very air I use to speak seeing as though I control your precious grades. Your wit alone is all either one of you children possess, so might I make the suggestion that you honor that and be careful not to waste my time." Snape hissed, turning on his heal to walk back toward the front to help John, whose hand was up in the air. Sherlock rolled his bright blue-ish orbs and rested his elbows on the desk before him, propping his chin up with one of his hands.

"Perhaps we would worship you, Professor, if you actually washed your hair once in a while." Sherlock muttered, disgusted with having to constantly stare at the back of Snape's greasy head. Professor Snape whipped around once more, a sort of simmer settling into his pitch black eyes as his lips curled into a snare.

"You think you're clever don't you, Holmes? Okay, if you're so smart, why don't you teach Mr. Watson here how to perform the potion you were supposed to be working on." Sherlock grinned and exchanged a glance with John, who was looking at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Excellent idea, Professor. John might be interested in knowing that you're teaching this lesson wrong, though I originally was not going to waste my breath pointing it out." Snape folded his arms and huffed, a smile on his lips that didn't meet his eyes.

"Explain."

"We are learning how to properly brew the Wide Eye, or if you will, Awakening Potion, correct? The second half of the potion calls for us to add Wolfsbane to our cauldron and then stir three times anti-clockwise. I believe your instructions were to stir five times clockwise after adding a rather large amount of Infusion of Wormwood, which if I am not mistaken, sir, is the key ingredient in Draught of Living Death. So either you are attempting to teach a bunch of first year students an advanced level potion and happen to have tubs of sloth brains stashed in here somewhere, or you don't know what you're doing. Which is it?" Snape stormed briskly to Sherlock's seat and snatched a potion book up off the desk, flipping madly to the potion he was supposed to be teaching that day. Of course, Sherlock was right, and a brief flicker of humiliation crossed Snape's face, though it left as quickly as it came.

"You're wrong. I guess you aren't quite as intelligent as you think, are you?" Snape lied, dropping the book back down in front of his student with a loud thud.

"Twenty points from Ravenclaw, now get out of my sight. Take your little girlfriend with you." He roared sourly, glaring daggers at the young witch as she opened her mouth to defend herself.

"I said out. NOW!" Both students quickly gathered their things and exited the dungeons quickly, practically running back to Ravenclaw Common Room. Today's entrance riddle was 'If you have me you want to share me, if you share me, you haven't got me. What am I?' Neither Sherlock nor Luna had to think very hard and both blurted out the answer at the same time.

"A secret." They entered the common room quickly and flopped down on an old blue couch found in one of the far corners of the room.

"Sorry I got you thrown out of class." Luna sighed and slid down comfortably, laying her legs across Sherlock's lap.

"It's no big deal, I was rather amused to be truthful." Sherlock looked over at her incredulously, not believing how comfortable she seemed to be with him after knowing him for such a short period of time. Luna read his expression easily.

"I'm sorry, does this position bother you?" Sherlock was in awe, of course it bothered him, he'd been an introvert his entire life. He didn't, however, wish to say so, especially under the circumstances and simply shook his head. They just sort of sat there for a while in an uncomfortable silence, Sherlock's observations about her returning to his mind.

"So I told you why I see Thestral's, why do you?"

"My mum died experimenting with some spells when I was young." Sherlock didn't know why, but he hadn't quite been expecting it to be something so severe.

"There, there." He said awkwardly with a pat to her knee. Luna fought the urge to laugh at him, knowing he came from a family where emotion was a weakness. She found it sweet that he was trying. Another awkward silence befell them and Sherlock was growing a little irritated. Why did it have to be so hard for him to communicate? He'd obviously already blown it with John somehow, he didn't want it to happen again.

"So…do all girls smell weird or is it just you?" _Bloody hell, Sherlock, really? THAT was your plan?_ Sherlock mentally kicked himself, hoping he hadn't offended her. Luna seemed not the slightest bit bothered and answered with a light-hearted tone.

"Well, in order to answer that one would have to define the word weird, which by literal meaning is something supernatural or uncanny, and I suppose in that sense you would be referring to the fact that the Butterbeer cork necklace I wear gives me a more sweet smell. No, I'd say I'm the only girl around here that smells like that, because I'm the only one that believes in Nargles." Sherlock scrunched up his nose.

"In what?"

"Nargles! What nasty things they are too! They are little fairy like creatures that inhabit mistletoe. They are very mischievous and are prone to theft, which is why I wear my necklace and earrings. They repel them." Sherlock shook his head adamantly.

"Impossible, no such thing exists, Luna." He said dismissively, earning a whine of protest from the blonde.

"How would you know? You've only just learned of them!" Sherlock attempted to stop the smile forming around his lips.

"Normally if one wears specific garments to ward off something that no one has heard of, it's superstition, which I would advise you to steer clear of. You're too smart for that." Luna turned her face from him and pretended not to be flattered by the compliment, though Sherlock saw right through her.

"I'll prove it to you one day, when you've got a paper due and it hasn't turned up in weeks you'll be begging me to let you borrow my earrings." There was a brief pause before both of them erupted into laughter.

"Luna?" Sherlock asked after their cachinnation finally died down.

"Yes?" She replied curiously, leaning her head on his shoulder once more.

"Thanks." Luna was about to ask him what for, but his countenance told her everything she needed to know. _Thanks for being my friend. _She gave a small smile and a friendly nuzzle into his shoulder.

"You're very welcome."


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Halloween rolled around everything had settled down for Sherlock and John had decided to take the liberty and begin sitting with both Sherlock and Luna, forcing Ginny to follow suit and the four of them became decent friends. Sherlock grew to care deeply for both John and Luna, however, he couldn't tell if he still felt ill will toward Ginny, or if it was just something about her, but the two of them stayed nothing more than acquaintances.

The four of them had of course planned to attend the Halloween Feast in the Great Hall, and as it was their first Halloween at Hogwarts they were very excited, or at least Ginny and John were. Sherlock and Luna were far more interested in the bats that were rumored to be present at the occasion, a fascination coming over them on whether or not they could transform into vampires. As for Ginny and John, the more normal of the four eleven year olds, they were only in it for the candy.

However, Luna started to become a little concerned for Ginny that chilly Halloween morning. They were listening to Professor McGonagall give a lecture on chapter eight of A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration and John and Sherlock had both engaged each other in a friendly argument over whether or not it was morally justified to leave animals transfigured together with objects when it's not been done properly. McGonagall was allowing the side conversation and secretly quite enjoying it as it directly corresponded with what she was teaching, the spell Reparifarge, which righted ill-preformed transfiguration attempts. Unfortunately however this left Luna to talk to Ginny, who was acting really strange compared to how she usually was.

"What is making you so sad?" Luna finally asked, studying her friends face carefully. There were thick dark purple bags under her eyes, which were normally a vivid green but were now a dull puke-ish looking color that seemed to fit well with her mood that day.

"Nothing, I'm fine, I just didn't get a good nights sleep, that's all." While Luna was perfectly right that something was off, she was wrong with her final diagnosis. If Ginny wasn't sad then she must be sick, right? The flu had been going around the school lately, even Mr. Filch had come down with it, and luckily Madame Pomfrey had come up with a Pepperup Potion that worked to rid the illness instantly.

_I don't care what you have to say, I'm forcing you to go to the infirmary after class._ Luna thought to herself, cheerily noting in her head that the flu was very easily cured.

Around six thirty that afternoon, John came running up to Sherlock excitedly, the latter of which had been studying books on bats in the library.

"Sherlock, I know you and Luna have been looking forward to the whole a thousand bats thing, but I've got something better for us to do tonight!" Sherlock shot John an unamused look from over his book.

"Better than you're unyielding craving for candy?" John rolled his eyes and lowered his voice really low.

"Yes, I'm serious Sherlock, you'll want to hear this. I just overheard Harry Potter and his friends talking about a Death Day party in the common room, beginning at seven o'clock down in the dungeons. Apparently a whole bunch of dead people are coming for some sort of ghost function and I heard something about a headless hunt…I'm assuming it will be dangerous, I mean, it's Harry Potter. You in?" Sherlock sincerely doubted that it would be dangerous, but John knew him well enough to know that the very idea of missing out on a little thrill would drive him mad if he didn't go find out for himself. As much as he wanted to say no…

"Oh god, yes. Come on, let's go get Luna, she won't want to miss it!" Sherlock babbled excitedly, dropping his book and grabbing John by the hand. They practically ran all the way up the winding tower to Ravenclaw's common room, which Sherlock was concerned might kill John at the rate he was breathing by the time they reached the door. The Gryffindor Common Room was up a tower as well, but not one nearly so tall and steep.

"Good god how do you do this every day?" He panted, watching curiously as Sherlock listened to the new riddle. 'A box without hinges, key, or lid. Inside golden treasure is hid'.

"Egg!" John piped up happily, taking Sherlock by surprise.

"I love riddles." Sherlock snorted.

"Then it is you who should be in this house, I absolutely cannot stand them." He quipped as he stepped over the threshold, holding the door open for his friend. John soaked up the common room, his eyes raiding every inch of it in wonder. The carpets were midnight blue and the ceiling was hexed to look like twinkling stars in a dark blue sky, giving the entire room a sort of glow.

"No fair, your common room is way cooler than ours." Sherlock smiled smugly and was about to reply when a dotty voice rang out from behind them.

"That's because we have to work harder to get into ours." They both turned to see Luna sitting with Ginny asleep beside her, whom Luna seemed to be adamantly watching over.

"Oh, hi Luna. What's wrong with Ginny?" John asked, concern filling his large blue eyes as he approached the girls, Sherlock following dutifully behind him. Luna put a finger to her lips, shushing him gently in fear he might wake her tired friend.

"I wish I knew. She looks absolutely dreadful, so I took her to see Madame Pomfrey this morning, thinking she had the flu. Pepperup did nothing for her though, except make her look as if her whole head was on fire." She whispered. Sherlock hummed in thought and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Must not be the flu then. Whatever it is, it is best she sleeps it off, have you given her anything to help with pain?" Luna shook her head.

"She keeps telling me she isn't in any pain." John, whom his parents had been conditioning to be a doctor his entire life, decided to pipe up.

"I'd say it's simply fatigue, not illness. I've heard from other girls in our house that Ginny hasn't been sleeping much this week. I don't know why, so I can't really speak to that, but there isn't anything you can do for her now but make sure she is well rested." Luna sighed and nodded, looking up at Sherlock whose face was twisting into an almost nervous expression.

"What is it?" She asked gently, Sherlock's face going blank again as he attempted to brush off the mixture of anxiousness and excitement he was feeling.

"Nothing. John and I were simply heading to a Death Day party and thought you might want to tag along…you know, to study the dead people or something." He let out a frustrated laugh and Luna forced herself to choke back the disappointment forming in her gut, knowing he obviously really wanted her to go.

"I would love to…but I really feel obligated to take care of Ginny and make sure she's alright." Sherlock nodded and swallowed back his own disappointment, forcing a smile anyway, for her sake.

"Of course, I understand." Both John and Sherlock turned to be leaving, noticing that seven o'clock was approaching fast.

"Wait! You have to tell me all about it when you come back, promise? I'll be here, I don't suspect I'll be heading up to the dormitories anytime soon." The hopefulness in her voice was enough to lift Sherlock's mood a bit and a ghost of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"It's a promise, then." Sherlock and John proceeded to flee Ravenclaw Tower quickly, careful not to trip down the stairs as they fought to reach their destination. The dungeons were a long way away and they had wasted too much time in the common room.

They reached the proper dungeon, which was marked with dimly lit candles and the horrible sound of fingernails on a chalkboard playing as a sort of ghost music, only fifteen minutes late, which was amazing considering the journey there. Each boy was panting and sweating although the freezing temperature in the room pledged to fix that rather fast. The dungeon was filled with apparitions of varying sorts, from Moaning Myrtle to Nearly Headless Nick, who Sherlock supposed was the one having the party as he approached the large tomb-stone shaped cake that read 'Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington, died 31st October, 1492'. John had his sleeveless jumper pulled up over his nose in an attempt at compensating for the terrible odor coming from the food table, as most the food was rotten, and he was about to beg Sherlock to relocate when his eyes fell on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were standing with Peeves who was pelting poor Myrtle with moldy peanuts and shouting "Pimply! Pimply!" at her.

"Hey, let her alone―" John hollered in her defense, though it was too late. Moaning Myrtle had already burst into silvery translucent tears and flew from the dungeon like a bat out of hell, Peeves hot on her trail.

"Don't feel bad, she's always really sensitive." Said Hermione, who was smiling fondly at John and Sherlock. Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

"And that makes it okay?" Hermione's face fell and she quieted, she hadn't meant it that way, but now she was rather too embarrassed to defend herself.

"What are you two doing here anyway? Who invited you?" Ron barked in her defense, although she quickly put a hand on his shoulder to quiet him. Before either child had a chance to reply, a hunting horn sounded and the entire dungeon fell into silence. Suddenly, what must have been a dozen ghost horses burst into the room, much to what appeared to be Sir Nicholas's dismay.

"Must be the headless hunt…" John murmured, earning an already bored sigh from his friend.

"Clearly." John was feeling a mixture of exhilaration and pity, watching as Nearly Headless Nick slowly lost control of his own party, having it out with the leader of the hunt, Sir Patrick, who undoubtedly thought of Nick as a lesser ghost. It was when Sir Patrick's head zip passed him, however, and an official game of Head Hockey began, that John decided enough was enough.

"Can we leave?" He whispered to Sherlock, his eyes begging his friend to abandon this adventure and head to the feast, where it was certain to be warm and filled with all the live bats he could possibly want. Sherlock didn't verbally reply, but nodded slightly, attempting to slip away unnoticed. However, Ron Weasley was so cold he was turning blue around the lips, and he certainly noticed, wanting nothing more than to leave himself. He nudged Hermione and Harry gently, their eyes following his gaze to John and Sherlock, who were managing their escape successfully.

The golden trio followed the two first years as they sprinted from the dungeons and past Slytherin Common Room, heading for the Great Hall as fast as they possibly could.

"You said dangerous!" Sherlock whined loudly, his mind filled with all the sort of experiments he could have conducted on one of those bats had he succeeded in catching one. John threw his arms up in the air.

"I thought it would be, trust me, or I wouldn't have suggested it!" They bickered back in forth for a little while before skidding to a stop when they heard a frantic yell from Harry.

"It's going to kill someone!" Neither kid knew what Harry was talking about but it hardly mattered, Sherlock's face lighting up faster than John had ever seen, his bright eyes filling with what only can be described as pure unadulterated joy.

"Now we're talking!" They followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione up the marble staircase to the first floor, and then the second, listening to Hermione scream her head off at Harry, demanding to know what was going on. Harry wouldn't answer and it seemed as though he was straining to listen to something, although none of the other children could hear anything. They finally all came to a stop at the last hallway on that floor, deserted of students and giving off an unusually eerie vibe that none of them could seem to shake.

"What is going on…" Hermione fretted one last time, trailing off as her eyes caught sight of something dangling from a wall in the distance. A scream arose in her throat as the five of them approached, horror manifesting itself in the faces of all but Sherlock. Shimmering in what appeared to be fresh scarlet red blood, the message 'The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware' was scrawled out.

"I-Is that…?" Ron stuttered, pointing a pale and trembling finger to what was hanging upside down attached to one of the walls torches. He stumbled backwards and slipped, falling in a large puddle of water on the floor. It was Mrs. Norris, the terrible cat of the even more awful caretaker, Argus Filch. She was stiff as a board and was as far as the five of them were concerned, dead.

"Yes! Brilliant, John! This is like Christmas!" Sherlock rambled happily, thrilled to maybe get to put his gift of deduction to good use. Hermione turned tear-filled eyes to Sherlock, her face contorting into one of shock and judgment.

"What is wrong with you?! And to think you actually called me out on talking about Myrtle? Ugh!" She looked utterly disgusted with him, genuinely surprising Sherlock, who didn't think he had done anything wrong. He turned innocent eyes to John.

"Not good?" John, who had grown accustomed to Sherlock's personality quite swiftly, simply rubbed his friends arm sympathetically.

"Bit not good, yeah." Harry quietly suggested that they should leave, Ron nodding in agreement and stating that if nothing else, they did not want to be caught hanging around there. However, he spoke only moments too late as the buzz of chatter getting louder and louder signaled that the Halloween Feast had ended. Students flooded the hall, stopping only to swarm around Harry and the others as they took notice of the writing on the wall.

"Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" A voice called out, Sherlock recognizing it immediately as belonging to Draco Malfoy. Both he and John turned to look at him, standing with none other than Jim Moriarty. John felt a sort of dead cold seize his body as Moriarty stared him down, mouthing out 'that means you' before backing into the crowd. Sherlock lunged forward angrily but John pulled him back by his arm knowing it was a moot point, he'd vanished.

"What is going on up here?" Filch demanded, pushing his way to the front after hearing Draco's loud comment from the back of the gathering. His large bulging eyes seemed as if they might pop right out of his head as he realized Mrs. Norris was seemingly dead. Harry was standing closest to her, and not only that, had been in trouble with Filch earlier that day, and so it was he who fell to blame in the mind of the squib.

"_You_…you murdered my cat…I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" He repeated, his bellows reaching the sharp ears of Headmaster Dumbledore, who was approaching with McGonagall and Snape.

"Argus, Argus I―" Dumbledore stopped, a look of chagrin and disbelief filling his wise old eyes.

"Everyone…must proceed to the dormitories immediately…" Dumbledore ordered slowly, exchanging careful glances with McGonagall.

"Everyone except you three." He added, staring down Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Sherlock and John looked at each other instantly, stunned that they weren't included. Curious as they were, they were both ready to say something when the Ravenclaw Prefect nudged Sherlock in the direction of the other students.

"Come along, all Ravenclaw's must follow me to the common room at once." Sherlock glared at him, readying to leave John's side when his friend tightened his grip on his arm.

"Sherlock wait…about what Moriarty said, why does he think I'm a Mudblood, what does that even mean?" Sherlock's face filled with commiseration and he gently cupped the side of John's face.

"….don't worry about it, John. Get some sleep, I'll tell you about it later, okay?" John knew from the way Sherlock was treating him that it must have been a really nasty thing to say, and he was grateful that Sherlock didn't want to talk about it tonight, as he was tired and not in the mood to be upset.

"Okay, good night, Sherlock." Sherlock was about to say it back when John was whisked away by Percy Weasley, forcing him in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

Once back in the common room, after Ginny was yelled at by the prefect and sent back to her own dormitory, Sherlock curled up next to Luna and let out a deep sigh. He kept his promise, giving the lackluster details of the Death Day party, although what he really wanted to tell her about was what had happened to Mrs. Norris.

"But never mind Sir Nicholas's party, something far more exciting happened tonight." Luna's eyebrows rose, which seemed to Sherlock to be impossible, as it only furthered her permanent surprise face.

"I assume this to be why everyone had to rush back so suddenly?" Sherlock nodded gravely and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Mrs. Norris, you know Filches ungodly fur ball? She was found dead…or at least she looked dead, though I suspect by the rigidness of her body that it's something far worse, hanging from a torch in a hall on the second floor. The phrase 'enemies of the heir beware' was written in blood, and something about a chamber of secrets…it's pretty wonderful, isn't it? I mean think about it, who knows what kind of mysteries we could uncover if we pursued this." Luna seemed to think for a moment before replying.

"The mystery part yes, but we will have to work quickly. If my memory serves me well the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened was fifty years ago, and a muggle-born student died. We will need to be keeping an eye on John." Sherlock nodded.

"Of course, he won't leave our side. We can make sure he always heads back to the dorms with Harry Potter, it seems as if we may have to eventually team up with him, he was hearing strange voices or something when we found her." Luna didn't seem shaken by this information, almost as if she had suspected it.

"Harry seems like the type to find trouble easily, I don't doubt that he has a large part to play yet in what's going on. However I don't think it's us that needs his help, he is going to need ours. We need to come up with a plan." Sherlock liked the sound of that a lot, the possibility of running into danger growing bigger and bigger. He smirked.

"When do we start?"


	4. Chapter 4

Ginny Weasley had become awfully depressed after learning about the incident with Mrs. Norris and how it had negatively impacted not only her crush, but her brother. Poor Ginny was worried to death that Ron was going to get expelled, she had heard the howler her mother had sent him earlier in the year, she knew all it would take was one more mistake and he'd be on the train home. It was because of her fragile mental and emotional state that Luna, John, and Sherlock thought it best to leave her out of their clever plan to out the heir of Slytherin.

Hermione was still angry with Sherlock, but because she and John were in the same house and he seemed nice enough, she was willing to work with him and indirectly with Sherlock in order to accomplish a common goal. John met with her bright and early on the 7th of November in their common room to have a little chat about something that had been eating him.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, Hermione?" The clever Gryffindor was groggy and her poofy hair hung over her eyes but she slowly nodded her head.

"The other week or so ago Jim Moriarty called me…well, he called me a Mudblood. Sherlock promised to tell me what it meant later, but I think he forgot. That or he really doesn't want to bring it back up." John now had one hundred percent of her attention and she brushed her curls out of her face, which was filled with sympathy.

"Oh John, I'm sorry to hear that. Malfoy called me one at the start of the term, I know how it feels. It means dirty blood, it's a really foul name for someone who is muggle-born, someone with non-magic parents. Very derogatory in the wizarding world." John's heart sank, he should have guessed it would be something like that. He thought back to the night they were sorted, remembering Sherlock telling him that the Moriarty and Malfoy families hated muggle-borns.

"Are most pure-blood wizard families like that?" Hermione shook her head.

"Oh no, of course not. Ron's family is pure-blood and they hang out with the likes of me all the time. As a matter of fact Ron's dad works for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, he is fascinated by them. It's mainly the Slytherin's you have to watch out for…I'm awfully surprised you're friends with that Sherlock Holmes." John narrowed his eyes at her, attempting not to get angry.

"Sherlock Holmes was the first friend I made here. He may be pure-blood but he isn't like the lot of them, he is outcast from his entire family. You don't know him, Hermione. If you did you wouldn't have such a look on your face when you speak his name. Sherlock is amazing. Rude and insensitive at times, but amazing. He doesn't mean to be that way, Hermione, he just has a rough go of it mentally. He claims he is a sociopath but really I think he's just got a touch of Asperger's." Hermione seemed to let all that information settle in for a while and smiled brightly at John.

"You're kind, John. I can see why he keeps you around." John laughed softly, looking down at his lap and mulling over the real question he wanted to ask her, especially now that he knew what a Mudblood was.

"What do you think that writing on the wall meant? Enemies of the heir beware…what heir, exactly?" Hermione's expression suddenly grew weary and she looked away from him. John was just a first year and she didn't want to freak him out, but he was muggle-born, and he truly deserved to know.

"I asked Professor Binns about it the other day. According to him, the founder of Slytherin House, Salazar Slytherin, believed that magical learning should be restricted to all magic families. When the other founders of the school disagreed with him he left in a rage. But according to legend, before his departure he built a hidden chamber in the castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Inside the chamber is a terrible monster, and when Slytherin's heir returned to the school, the chamber would be opened again and the monster would be released. The monster is supposed to rid the school of those who, in Slytherin's view, are unworthy to study magic." John paled a few shades, looking around carefully as if the monster could somehow hear them.

"Enemies of the heir…muggle-borns…that's why Malfoy says we are next." Hermione nodded. This information seemed to strengthen some sort of resolve in John, rather than scare him, and he crossed his arms in determination.

"All right then, fine. Harry said something the other day about a House-Elf visiting him in his bedroom, yeah? An enslaved House-Elf with a cryptic warning…I bet you anything these issues are related. We need to see Sherlock, immediately. He and Luna have been working on a plan all week." Hermione shook her head a few times as if to clear her thoughts and then shot him a concerned look.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa wait, hang on a tick. What plan?" John rolled his eyes as if it were obvious, something he'd no doubt picked up from Sherlock.

"A plan to find out who the heir is! Now we know that it's a Slytherin, and that's helpful. Thanks Hermione!" He jabbered briskly, giving Hermione a quick kiss on the cheek in thanks and bolting out of the common room. She sat there for a moment, quite in shock, before making a mad dash after him and calling out his name in confusion.

"I am in rock, not in stone. I am in marrow, not in bone. I am in bolster but not in bed. I am not living, I am not dead." Came the riddle from the enchanted door-knocker at Ravenclaw Tower. John couldn't contain the pleasure it brought him to be asked such a riddle and he was having a good time figuring it out before Hermione had to open her mouth.

"For god sakes John, the answer is the letter R." The common room door swung open and John let out a pout.

"You're a bit of a know it all, but you already know that don't you?" It was nothing Hermione hadn't heard before and she ignored him, marching into Ravenclaw's common room and looking around for Sherlock. He was in his usual spot on the couch with Luna, the two having what appeared to be an animated conversation regarding the solar system and Sherlock's lack of room for it in what he called his 'Mind Palace'. When he looked up and saw John he smiled, though it fell quickly once he realized who was with him.

"Hello John….Hermione." Hermione attempted a fake smile in his direction and an even faker one at Luna, whom she had never formally met but had heard a great deal about.

"Yes…hello to you as well, Sherlock. Didn't realize you were acquainted with Looney Lovegood." Sherlock gritted his teeth, though Luna placed a hand on top of his in comfort.

"Friend, she's my _friend_, and sure, I'll bet she's awfully looney to a narrow-minded Gryffindor lacking any and all feasible intellect and perspective. You are only as smart as your books allow you to be, Granger, and maybe if you took a moment to realize that there is far more to learn in a realm outside your ass, you'd take your head out of it." Both John and Hermione's mouths would have hit the floor had they been able, Sherlock turning every ounce of his attention back to Luna and resuming their conversation as if nothing had happened. Luna had confided in Sherlock many times that the nickname 'Looney Lovegood' sort of hurt her feelings, and in his mind that was perfectly justifiable grounds to tell someone where to shove it.

"H-Hermione I am so sorry, he…I've never…" John stammered, attempting to justify what Sherlock had just done without hurting Hermione further. Luna, who never turned away from Sherlock, whom she was listening to very intently, decided to pipe up.

"I'm sorry as well, Hermione, for the way he worded his reply, however I cannot say that he was wrong. From what I've heard, you could use a little perspective." As she said this she gave Sherlock's hand a squeeze, an indication that she wasn't mad, and was actually more than a little pleased that he had stuck up for her.

"He's amazing, huh?" Hermione sneered, turning to storm out when John called after her.

"Hermione, wait, please, we need to figure this out! It doesn't matter if you and Sherlock can't get along, but for god's sake you could at least pretend to like each other until we make sure the school is safe again!" This caught all three of the other students' attention, everyone falling silent and just sort of staring at each other tensely.

"Sherlock, I came to tell you I found out from Hermione that the heir is going to be a Slytherin student." John said quietly, breaking the silence as he looked wearily at his friend. Sherlock almost looked amused.

"I anticipated as much. I think the solution is obvious." John shot Sherlock his best you-know-it-isn't face and folded his arms expectantly.

"Polyjuice Potion." John and Hermione were both a little taken aback when it was Luna who came to this conclusion. Sherlock nodded in agreement.

"Precisely. We need to find out who the heir is, and how do you think we're going to do that without infiltrating their common room? I suggest we interrogate Malfoy and Moriarty…which means I don't want John to be present when it happens, is that clear? I'd say only about three people can go in inconspicuously anyway. The rest of us will search for clues elsewhere." John didn't know how to react, a fuzzy feeling coming over him knowing Sherlock wanted to keep him safe.

"I say Ron, Harry, and I should take the potion if you're so concerned about John. You and Luna would blow our cover." Sherlock opened his mouth to retort but John butted in quickly.

"What she means is, the two of you are too intelligent to pretend to be a bunch of Slytherin's, and you'd likely slip up easily because of that. I've got some suspicions about this House-Elf that visited Harry this summer, so how about we go talk to Hagrid about it while they're working on the potion? I've heard he knows an awful lot about magical creatures." John suggested, though Sherlock looked as if he thought that idea was complete and utter rubbish.

"No, I can't be out talking to keeper of the keys when I could be putting my actual skills to good use. How about you and Luna go talk to Hagrid and Hermione and I go steal the ingredients from Snape's personal stash, you're mad if you think all the ingredients for Polyjuice Potion are going to be found in the student cupboards." Hermione turned her nose up at him.

"I'm sorry, but I think you're going to have to steal those items yourself. _I _am going to go talk Professor Lockhart into giving me a pass to check out Moste Potente Potions from the restricted section of the library. I'm sorry, but I'm not relying on your mind alone to brew this potion, I need to look at a book." The foul look Sherlock was giving her could have killed and Hermione's lips twisted up into an unpleasant smile.

"Fine, have it your way. You'd only get me caught anyway." Sherlock chided, earning a warning glare from John.

"It's settled then. John, you and Luna go see Hagrid, and Sherlock and I will do our own things. I'll have Harry and Ron set up a cauldron and everything else in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom on the second floor, got it? Meet us in there at six, this is worth missing dinner for." Both John and Sherlock looked a little uncomfortable about going into Myrtle's bathroom but they all nodded in agreement, grabbing their things and heading their separate ways.

Sherlock ran quickly from the tower down to the first floor, running smack into fellow first year Colin Creevey. Sherlock, not really being one to apologize, gave Colin a cold look and continued walking, stopping only when the Gryffindor student called out to him.

"Sherlock, wait! I want to ask you a question!" Colin was about to push the large button on his camera when Sherlock grabbed his wrist.

"No pictures please." Colin snapped the photo anyway and Sherlock sighed, dropping the boy's wrist and shooting him an exasperated expression.

"What do you want, Creevey?" Colin was an extremely excitable fellow and his cheeks flushed scarlet with anticipation, eyes wide and gleaming.

"You're friends with Harry Potter aren't you? I mean I'd…I'd really like to take some pictures with him if you know where I could find him." _Of course, here we go. _Sherlock thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. Among the first years it was always Harry Potter this and Harry Potter that, in Sherlock's opinion it was the most annoying part of being a year behind 'The Boy Who Lived'. He originally planned to just turn and walk away before he was struck with a brilliant idea.

"You know what, I don't know where he is right now Colin, but would you like me to let you in on a little secret?" Colin looked about ten seconds away from fainting.

"Of course!" Sherlock leaned in close, a Cheshire-like grin spreading across his features.

"Harry asked me to get a few things for him, some things he really needs. The problem is, the only way I can get those things is to borrow them from Snape while he's not looking. Do you think you could help me with that?" Colin was clutching his camera so hard Sherlock actually thought he might crack it.

"Anything for Harry!" Sherlock chuckled darkly.

"Perfect."

The two of them crept through the hallways quietly, very careful to be seen by as few people as possible. They snuck past the Slytherin Common Room and down to the entrance of the largest dungeon, where Professor Snape's first class of the day was in session. Sherlock's expression was severe when he looked at Colin, whom he knew wasn't taking this nearly as seriously as he should have been.

"Now I need you to stick to the plan, alright? I'm going to hit you with the tickling charm, and no matter if it only tickles a little or not at all, I need you to howl with the loudest laughter you've ever vocalized in your life. If he asks if you can stand tell him no. Are we clear?" Colin nodded eagerly and Sherlock took a deep breath as if to ready himself.

"RICTUSEMPRA!" Sherlock shouted, a bright silvery beam erupting from his wand and knocking Colin back forcefully. Knowing he only had a matter of seconds, he waved his wand around himself furiously and muttered the incantation for the Disillusionment Spell, camouflaging himself to the wall. Colin's body seemed to vibrate with thick, loud laughter, his small form doubling over tightly into the fetal position. It wasn't long before Snape yanked the door to the dungeon open and poked his head out.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He roared, attempting to yank Colin out of the floor to no avail. He fought hard to catch enough breath to answer.

"S-Someone hahahaha h-hit m-me….don't know whahahahaha wh-who!" Snape looked around suspiciously, feeling around the air as if to make sure there were no cloak-wielding trouble makers around before he turned his attention back to the jinxed first year.

"Stand up!" Snape demanded, trying once more to pull Creevey out of the floor and to his feet.

"I can't!" He wailed in what sounded a little like pain. Sherlock felt a bit sorry for the kid, knowing that all that laughter much actually come with a little strain on his abdominal muscles. Sherlock wasn't sure he'd ever seen Snape look so angry, a sense of pride welling up in him that he hadn't felt in he didn't know when. Snape lugged Colin up into his arms, trudging down the corridor irately while uttering obscenities to himself.

Sherlock took this as his chance, staying close to the wall and maneuvering toward Snape's ingredient cupboard as fast as he could. None of the students seemed to notice as they talked amongst themselves that the cabinet door opened on its own, and Sherlock filled his robes with as much of the potions ingredients as he could carry. Slipping out as efficiently as physically possible, he bolted toward the second floor bathroom before his enchantment had the opportunity to wear off.

Meanwhile, Luna and John were seated at a table in Hagrid's hut. He'd made them tea and attempted to feed them a few of his rock-cakes, which they politely pretended to nibble on. They had talked for a long while about House-Elves and Elfish magic, though the only information they had really gathered from him of any importants was that only rich, usually Slytherin-based families owned them.

"But Hagrid," John began in an attempt at bringing their visit to a close.

"I've heard some rumors going around the school that people have seen a House Elf by the name of Dobby…do you know anything about that?" Understanding flooded Hagrid's face.

"Oh! Is that what all this here has been about? Well of course students sometimes see House-Elves on campus, who do you think does all the cooking and cleaning? Dumbledore? I think that there rumor must be a little mislead though, I've only ever met one Elf named Dobby and he belonged to Lucius Malfoy. You've gone batty if you think he lets his servants work for anyone but him." Luna and John exchanged alarmed looks and both slowly rose from the table.

"Oh, alright then. We really must be going, it's almost time for supper. Thank you for your time, Hagrid!" Hagrid smiled tenderly at both students and let out a deep chuckle.

"Anytime."

Moaning Myrtle's bathroom had never been so full. Everyone was present by the time six o'clock rolled around, and Hermione looked more than pleased with herself as she checked off everything on the list. Fluxweed picked on a full moon, Knotgrass, Lacewing Flies, Leeches, Horn of Bicorn, and Boomslang Skin, all of it was accounted for.

"Decent job, Sherlock. What's this?" She asked, holding up a few stray black hairs that he'd lain with the rest of his steal.

"We're going to need the hair of who we're turning into are we not? I thought it might be a little easier to get straight answers if one of you went as a teacher. Snape's cupboard was filthy, hair and the like everywhere, wasn't very hard." Hermione didn't seem the slightest bit impressed.

"I took the liberty of snatching some hair as well." She held up a small vial she'd been keeping in one of her robe pockets.

"Millicent Bulstrode, Slytherin. Now we just need one more and we're ready to go." Luna proudly presented the hair she had been clutching in her left hand the whole time, a bright smile on her face.

"When John and I were heading back from Hagrid's we ran into Michael Robinson. I ran my fingers through his hair a couple of times, I don't know why he got so offended. Perhaps it was because I didn't ask first." Luna admitted, her dreamy voice floating through the air in a way that heavily grated on Hermione's nerves. John nudged Sherlock in the ribs playfully.

"He called her a freak, but don't worry, I yelled at him for you." Sherlock turned pink and shot John a don't-be-ridiculous look.

"I don't know what you mean." He grumbled, looking anywhere but in Luna's general vicinity. Hermione clapped her hands together excitedly and turned to the correct page in the potion book.

"Alright you guys, let's begin!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry guys, I don't know why I described Ginny's eyes as green in chapter three, I just noticed that mistake. I know for FACT they are brown, I think the films must have been throwing me off that day.**

The Polyjuice Potion was left in the bathroom that night to brew with only Moaning Myrtle to look after it, relatively safe since no one ever went in there. The six students planned on returning for it after that days Quidditch match, which was to be between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Luna and Sherlock decided to sit with Ginny and John in the Gryffindor bleachers, since it was Gryffindor they supposed they were technically rooting for, though neither one of them took much interest in sports. Draco Malfoy was the new Slytherin Team Seeker, and it was largely because of this that all of the three other houses were eager to see Slytherin beaten.

Sherlock sat between Luna and John, Ginny sitting to John's other side nearest to the wall. This left the open seat next to Luna to be occupied by Ron, who was saving Hermione a seat on the opposite side of him. Hermione was a little late getting to the stands, having been talking to Harry right before he had to run out onto the field. It was then that she noticed Draco Malfoy not too far away from them, staring her down intensely. For a brief moment Draco's face was serene and his eyes were filled with something Hermione couldn't put her finger on, that is, until he caught her staring back at him. A swift coldness filled his demeanor and he let out a sharp hiss as the Slytherin Team was called to come out onto the field.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked as she dazedly took her seat beside him. Hermione just shrugged, perplexed greatly by that unreadable expression…what was going on with him? However the question was wiped from her mind quickly as the sound of wood shattering ripped her attention to the Quidditch Pitch and Sherlock stood up quickly. A bludger had rammed straight into Oliver Wood's broom on its way to annihilate Harry. Fred Weasley flew to Potter's side quickly and knocked the ball away, though it turned like a boomerang and came hurdling back. Sherlock's eyes scanned the Pitch meticulously, knowing something wasn't quite right.

"That bludger is hexed." He muttered, earning a roll of the eyes from Hermione.

"Oh don't be ridiculous, bludgers try to knock _everybody _off of their broom, it's not just―" She was cut off when the bludger made yet another U-turn for Harry and the young Seeker began swerving up and down in the air in an attempt at throwing the ball off his course.

"That's been tampered with that has!" They heard Hagrid shout from behind them, an extremely smug smirk tugging at the corner of Sherlock's lips as he glanced sideways at a fuming Hermione. He looked down when he felt a gentle tug on his robe sleeve.

"He'll be okay, won't he, Sherlock?" Sherlock's expression softened and he grinned at her.

"I'm sure he will, he's the youngest Seeker in over a century. It's Hermione you should be worried about, I fear her brain is suffering from the Wrackspurts, I thought I felt one pass earlier." Of course Sherlock was only affectionately teasing, but Luna's eyes grew wide and bright.

"You know about Wrackspurts? Sherlock…have you been reading _The Quibbler?"_ Sherlock's smile widened and he winked, turning his attention back to Harry without verbally replying. Luna turned pink, looking down at her hands as Hermione and Ron exchanged sickened glances.

Fred and George so far were doing a brilliant job keeping the bludger away and Harry was spinning and twirling around in the air as if he were training for the ballet. However, it was getting to the point where the Weasley Twins were aiming to call a time out, though the determination on Harry's face begged them not to. His eyes had befallen the snitch, which was sitting right next to Malfoy's face, and he wasn't about to give up now. Harry charged his broom toward Draco, who swore and retreated, no doubt thinking Harry was attacking him. However, Harry had stayed going in one direction for too long, the bludger ramming into his right arm with a thundering crack. The crowd gasped, Harry's other hand frantically grabbing for the Snitch as he fell from his broom and down to the cold rain-trodden ground below.

Sherlock, Luna, John, Ginny, and Ron all bolted from their stadium seats, running toward Harry as Professor Lockhart pulled out his wand. Sherlock knew this would do Harry no good, screaming at the Professor to not touch him though Lockhart either didn't hear him or didn't care.

"Brackium Emendo!" He shouted, his attempt at healing Harry's broken arm going terribly wrong. His arm looked as if it was a flesh colored rubber piece, a large dry heave ripping through Harry's chest as he looked upon it.

"Well…as you can see, it is clear that the bones are no longer broken." Ron looked at Lockhart like he had three heads.

"Broken? There's no bone left!" Ron's face was twisted into a nauseated expression, John wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him away from Harry.

"Hey, don't look, okay? Let's take Harry to the hospital wing." Ron returned John's kind smile and they each lifted a side of Potter, helping him to his feet and leading him back toward the castle with Ginny following close behind. Sherlock and Luna exchanged glances with Hermione and the trio immediately jetted after them, without, however, the intension of seeing that Harry made it to Madame Pomfrey okay. None of them knew why that bludger attacked Harry or who had hexed it, but they had a pretty good idea and they needed to make sure their Polyjuice Potion was secure.

Myrtle was doing her usual, sitting in the U-bend and crying loudly when the three children rushed into her lavatory. The potion was brewing and frothing as it should and Hermione let out a loud sigh of relief. Moaning Myrtle peeked her head out at the sound and looked around carefully.

"Where's Harry?" She asked quietly as Hermione stirred the potion a few times and added in a few final ingredients.

"Hospital wing, broke his arm in Quidditch." This seemed to horribly upset the ghost, who let out an ear piercing shriek and head dived into her toilet. Sherlock was paying no mind, wandering around the bathroom in suspicion. There was something about this rest room that gave him bad vibes…Myrtle couldn't be the only reason no one ever came in there. He walked over to the sinks, eyes scanning everywhere and everything. He placed his fingers under his chin and hummed, about to walk off and examine something else when a certain symbol met his eye. He ran his fingers over a little snake emblem engraved on the second tap of one of the sinks.

"Hmm." It wasn't long before Sherlock felt long silky blonde hair resting upon his shoulder as Luna peeked around to see what he was looking at.

"That's curious. What do you think it means?" Sherlock put a finger to his lips and gestured toward Hermione with his eyes. If he was going to figure this mystery out, he wanted to figure it out without too much help from the schools three favorite students.

"I'll tell you in the Common Room." Luna nodded in understanding as Hermione stood and walked toward them, the couple backing away from the sink nonchalantly.

"We're clear. I suggest we go visit Harry now." The two kids nodded in agreement and followed her outside, bumping into someone that made Sherlock's stomach churn. Mycroft Holmes was the Slytherin Prefect and he was staring his brother down with enough malice to frighten even Hermione, who found herself paling under his harsh gaze.

"Sherlock, I don't even want to know what you were doing with two females in the girl's bathroom, but I assure you that Mother will be most displeased to hear about it. With your sorting into a certain house, I'd warn you to stay off of Mother and Father's bad side. Our family has disowned their own over much less." Mycroft's tone was cold, but his eyes shone with genuine worry for his younger sibling, who had always been the odd one out in their family. Sherlock was about to reply when a lanky Hufflepuff student wrapped his arms around Mycroft from behind and placed his chin on his shoulder.

"Oh, lay off your little brother, Myc, he's only just eleven." A small blush crept up Mycroft's cheeks, though he fought to conceal it and looked anywhere but at Sherlock.

"Get off of me, Gregory." Greg Lestrade made no attempt at moving, if anything clinging to his friend tighter as he smiled brightly at the three children before him.

"That Quidditch match was intense, yeah? You guys wanna chill with Mycroft and I back in Hufflepuff's dorms or something? I know you're probably worried sick about that Potter kid." What almost appeared to be a smirk slithered onto Mycroft's face and he titled his head slightly to make eye-contact with the other sixth year.

"Really, Gregory? And here I thought you and I were going to have some time alone." It was the first time in Sherlock's life that he had heard his brother use such a tone of voice and he never ever wanted to hear it again. Sickened, he took Luna by the hand and turned his nose up at the older boys.

"No thank you, we have a friend to check on." Mycroft stifled a chuckle as the trio quickly made their way down the hall without so much as a backward glance. Lestrade nipped gently at one of Mycroft's ears.

"Shall we, then?" Mycroft sighed deeply and pulled out of the Hufflepuff's embrace.

"Oh alright, but please get off of me until we get there. People are going to talk, and you know what my parents will do to me if they find out." Lestrade rolled his eyes but decided not to take it to heart, shooting his boyfriend a wolfish grin.

"There will come a day, Myc, when you're going to stop caring what that family of yours thinks and when it happens I'm going to be there to proudly proclaim that it was all my fault." Mycroft couldn't help but smile and playfully jab Lestrade in the ribs.

"Wipe that smug smile off of your face, you little bastard."

Mycroft Holmes and Greg Lestrade had been secretly dating since their third year at Hogwarts. Greg had just been appointed Captain of Hufflepuff's Quidditch Team, which he still was, and Mycroft had admired his lithe and agile body during one of the matches between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Though Mycroft had been dropping minor hints after that, Lestrade didn't realize his classmate was interested in him until the next match against Hufflepuff and Slytherin, where Mycroft had taken the liberty of sitting with the Hufflepuff students and cheering him on. Hufflepuff went on to win the Quidditch Cup that year, which he claimed he won specifically for Mycroft, and the rest was history.

Mycroft and Lestrade had to crouch down in Hufflepuff's common room, which was down in the basement. It was small and round, largely resembling a Hobbit-Hole, making it a bit unfriendly to the particularly tall students.

"Come on, let's head up to my dorm. Far roomier in there, and we'll have more privacy." Mycroft was certainly not opposed, making himself comfortable on the bed he knew belonging to Greg. Mycroft and Lestrade often liked to sit there and talk or read to each other. The more you chipped away at Mycroft's cold outer exterior, Greg had found, the more of a giant teddy bear you'd see that he was. Lestrade leaned in, capturing Mycroft's soft lips and snuggling into the slightly younger male's squishy body. Mycroft responded by running his fingers through Lestrade's untidy blonde hair and pulling him on top of him so that he was straddling his waist. Lestrade pulled back, looking lovingly on his boyfriend, who he rarely got to be affectionate with.

"I love you, Mycroft. I love you a lot, I just hope you know that." Mycroft didn't exactly know how to respond, though Greg knew better than to expect anything verbal. Lestrade was more than a little surprised when the Slytherin student gently rubbed their noses together, his own little way of saying 'I love you too'. Greg was prepared to dive right back into a steamy make-out session when someone cleared their throat from the doorway.

"Why do I always find you like this?" Said Cedric, who was glaring at the couple in mock-disapproval. Mycroft turned fifty shades of scarlet and buried his face in his hands.

"Because you're a Hufflepuff, Diggory….because you're a Hufflepuff."


	6. Chapter 6

Christmas had finally rolled around by the time the Polyjuice Potion was ready to complete. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Harry, Sherlock, and Luna all stayed at Hogwarts, whereas John was coerced by Sherlock into going home for the holidays where he would be safe. Before he left, however, John confided in Sherlock that he'd heard Harry telling Hermione Dobby had visited him during his night in the hospital wing and had confessed to making that bludger chase after him. He also told him that Harry found out Colin Creevey had been petrified by whatever monster was hidden in the Chamber of Secrets, and that he'd been found with his camera clutched to his face as if he'd attempted to get a picture of it. It was because of this news that Sherlock's intense need to solve this case grew stronger, guilt eating at him for getting Colin involved.

Since then, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick were found petrified together, which Harry was blamed for as he had been the one who had found them. It was because of this that Sherlock felt even more inclined to keep what he and Luna knew about Moaning Myrtle's bathroom a secret. First of all he didn't trust Hermione as far as he could throw her, and with everything spiraling out of control for Harry, he thought the information would be safer if he didn't know. Sherlock and Luna both had their suspicions that Myrtle's bathroom was connected to the Chamber of Secrets, but at that precise moment they weren't sure how.

Christmas was the night, the night the hair was added to the glasses of Polyjuice Potion. All five students met back up in Myrtle's bathroom for one final go, eagerly awaiting for their brilliant plan to take off. Hermione added Millicent Bulstrode's hair to her glass, Ron added Michael Robinson's to his, and Harry begrudgingly added Snape's hair to his glass. Luna and Sherlock exchanged excited glances as they watched their friends drink on three―one, two…they didn't quite make it, eagerly pouring the potion down their throats. Just as quickly as they had downed it, however, they ran to the bathroom stalls as if they were to be sick.

"Not surprising…essence of Snape must taste foul." Luna laughed at Sherlock's comment and then pointed over toward the sinks.

"Do you want to stay and investigate after they leave?" She whispered, causing Sherlock to beam at her in pleasant surprise.

"Of course!" Harry and Ron walked out of their stalls slowly as he said this, looking at each other in absolute disgust. You couldn't tell Harry and Ron were even in there at all, the potion was so accurate it was scary.

"Come on Hermione, let's go!" Harry called out excitedly, though it sounded awfully funny in Snape's dark drawl of a voice. Moaning Myrtle could be heard snickering as Hermione told them to go on without her. Myrtle floated out of hiding from her end stall, smiling flirtatiously at Harry.

"Wait till you see, it's dreadful." She giggled gleefully, watching with amusement as Ron hesitantly pulled the stall door back. Hermione's face was black and furry, her eyes small and yellow, glowing in the darkness of the bathroom.

"Look at my face…" Ron fought his urge to burst out laughing.

"Look at your tail!" Harry elbowed Ron in the ribs and tugged on his arms. He told Sherlock to make sure Hermione got to the hospital wing and the two boys ran in search of Slytherin's Common Room.

Once Hermione was safely with Madame Pomfrey, Luna and Sherlock returned to the second floor bathroom and began diligently looking for clues. Sherlock was completely in his zone, having retrieved his over-coat from his dormitory and popped the collar, which Luna thought was adorable. Of course the first thing that both of them noticed upon their return was that Myrtle had flooded the bathroom again, and Sherlock's imagination was having a field day with all the possibilities as to why.

"Did something happen while we were away?" He questioned, Myrtle mistaking the light behind his eyes as gloating.

"Oh sure, come to throw something else at me?" Sherlock's eyebrows furrowed.

"I've only just arrived, how could I have thrown something at you?" Myrtle's lip quivered and she folded her arms against her chest in a pout.

"Don't ask me! Here I am minding my own business and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me." Sherlock tried his hardest to look sympathetic, but it was honestly hard for him. He thought it best just simply not reply, looking around for whatever book she might have been talking about.

"Sherlock." Luna had found it, wet as anything else in the bathroom, laying tattered and nearly destroyed next to the stall Hermione had been in earlier. Sherlock took it from her and delicately turned it over a few times in his hands, making sure he looked it over well before drawing any conclusions. In gold lettering at the bottom of the leather-bound cover read 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. Stranger than that, when Sherlock opened the book up, there was absolutely nothing within its pages.

"Interesting. It appears as if this Tom Riddle was awfully eager to be rid of this diary…but its void of any and all information. Invisible ink, do you think?" Luna smiled.

"Only one way to find out, I have a revealer in my luggage upstairs in the dormitories." Sherlock quite unexpectedly (for the both of them) kissed the top of Luna's head and sped off toward the sinks.

"Good! No, better than good, brilliant! Now help me figure out what this engraving means." Both students plopped down in the floor to study it and think, despite the flooding and the fact that they were practically floating in a few inches of water.

"We both agree that the emblem is most probably some sort of sign that the Chamber of Secrets is near here, correct? Well, if we're correct on our theory of Moriarty and or Malfoy sending that House Elf to do their dirty work, and that one of them is the heir of Slytherin, do you think it is possible that one of them left this as a clue for the other?" Luna seemed to think for a moment.

"You mean like, Malfoy opening the chamber and then scratching the snake into the tap to let Moriarty know where the entrance was?" Sherlock nodded.

"Either that, or I theorize that Salazar Slytherin left that scratch there to aid the heir upon their return to the school." Luna and Sherlock just sort of stared at each other for a few moments, watching the same plan form behind the other's eyes.

"The tap!" They both sprung to their feet simultaneously, trying with all their might to turn the knob and hopefully open some sort of hidden door. They pulled and pulled, but it was like the handle must have been cemented in place, it wouldn't budge.

"That tap has never worked." Myrtle explained, watching from afar in a gloomy daze. The determination burning behind Sherlock's eyes only burned brighter, pulling his wand from his robe and shouting "Reparo!" Nothing happened. Luna tried once more to no avail, turning confused eyes to her friend.

"I don't think its broken Sherlock…I think someone doesn't want it to move for a reason." Sherlock pulled his pocket watch out and checked the time, securing the diary in his robes and gesturing toward the door.

"Let's call it a night and go examine this book in the Common Room, it's getting late, and I don't want Harry and Ron to come back to us playing detective." Luna nodded in agreement, the duo heading to Ravenclaw Tower in a timely fashion. All the other students stared at them as they entered, sopping wet and babbling to each other in what appeared to the other children to be nonsense. Cho Chang, who shared a dorm with Luna, shot the pair a goofy smile and glared at the other students, who quickly turned away.

"There are too many people in here, why don't you come up with me to my dormitory?" Luna immediately turned scarlet, although Sherlock couldn't understand why.

"Those are the boy's dorms, Sherlock. I'm not allowed up there." Sherlock rolled his eyes and grinned at her.

"Yeah well, we also aren't allowed to wander the school at night and brew illegal potions in Myrtle's bathroom, but we do all that. Come on!" Sherlock grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs, though she was clearly uncomfortable. Thankfully none of Sherlock's dorm mates were in there and they had the place to themselves. Sherlock climbed up on his bed and motioned for Luna to come sit with him.

"Accio revealer!" Sherlock said with a wave of his wand, Luna's revealer flying into his hand from her own dormitory. He pulled the diary from his robes and laid it out on the bed before them. Smudging the pages with what looked like a giant red eraser, he noticed Luna curling into his side, which he decided didn't bother him so much anymore.

"Nothing is happening…" Sherlock got up off of the bed, careful not to disturb Luna too much, and fetched ink and a quill from his desk. He sat back down and purposefully drizzled ink onto the paper.

"Tsk, tsk, tampering with evidence, Sherlock." Luna teased, earning a snort from the genius as he watched the paper intently. It suddenly seemed to sink into the paper, not become invisible per se, but become completely absorbed. Sherlock thought for a few brief moments, wondering what would happen if he wrote in a legitimate sentence. 'Hello, my name is…' Sherlock thought it best to not use his own name. 'Harry Potter.'

'Hello, Harry Potter. I am Tom Riddle.' The book replied, Sherlock feeling Luna gasp beside him and grab hold of his arm. Sherlock knew exactly what he wanted to ask next. 'Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?' 'Yes.' Its reply was immediate, however so immediate that it put Sherlock on guard. He was about to close the diary, thinking it would be best to do some research on this Tom Riddle fellow before continuing to use his belongings, until the pages began writing to him frantically.

"Wait! I cannot tell you about the Chamber, but I can show you." Sherlock and Luna hardly had time to look at one another before they were both sucked into the diary.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were nearing the end of their stay in Slytherin Common Room. They had found out next to nothing besides that Malfoy had no clue who the heir was and that Lucius Malfoy had illegal things hidden in their mansion. Ron and Harry had split up, Ron with Malfoy and Harry with Moriarty. James was a little more than skeptical that Professor Snape just happened to drop by to inquire about the Chamber. His cold, unfeeling dull brown eyes were boring into Harry's soul it felt like, and it was taking all he could muster to make sure Snape didn't appear flustered.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, Mr. Moriarty. Is there any information on Slytherin's Chamber that you should share with the staff? This is more than urgent, students could be killed next." The sickening laugh that escaped Moriarty's lips made Harry's stomach quiver.

"Oh but I wouldn't be sharing it with the staff, would I? Pardon me, _Professor_, but if I do say so myself, you are the last teacher at this facility that would care if a bunch of filthy Mudblood's died. Now correct me if I'm wrong, _Harry_, but I suspect that this line of questioning is less about the chamber and more about me." James stalked toward Harry, backing him into a wall as a freakish twisted grin mangled his pale features.

"If Harry Potter wanted an autograph all he had to do was ask, but I don't like liars. You know what happens when people lie to the likes of me, Potter?" Moriarty ran his hand down Harry's chest torturously slow.

"_I skin them._" Harry used Snape's strength to push Moriarty off of him hard, the kid falling backward with a sharp thud. Harry wasted no time zipping to the door of the common room, belting out in Snape's harsh voice 'Michael Robinson we are done here, follow me!' Ron and Harry ran out of there faster than either of them had probably ran in all their lives. Just in time too, as the potion began to wear off.

"What's wrong, Harry? I've never seen you look quite so scared…" Tears were welled in Potter's eyes but he just shook his head.

"Just promise me Ron, just promise me one thing. Don't allow James Moriarty anywhere near Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes.

"You sound as bad as Sherlock."

"I'm serious!" He yelled, causing Ron to flinch a little bit. It wasn't until then that Ron fully understood that whatever had gone down in there had been really serious. Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder and nodded reassuringly.

"Okay, okay. Don't worry, Hermione's probably going to be in the hospital for a little while anyway, he can't touch her."

Back in Sherlock's dormitory, Luna and Sherlock had been watching Tom Riddle inside his diary for quite some time. Sherlock had found the entire ordeal sort of boring until they had followed him into a room where a very young Hagrid was standing, box securely in his arms.

"They'll have your wand for this, Hagrid." Tom said, watching with a face that Sherlock found to be obviously full of false pity. Hagrid shook his head over and over, yelled over and over that 'Aragog' would never ever hurt anybody. Riddle raised his wand and shot at the box, what appeared to be quite the large spider jumping from within its confines and scuttling away. Riddle raised his wand once more, and Luna shouted out a 'No' before the diary evicted them. Both students were hyperventilating and covered in sweat when they returned, Luna turning wide fearful eyes toward her friend.

"Whoever Tom Riddle is, he is lying. He wants us to believe Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets…but I don't understand why…" Sherlock's expression was rigid, his hands trembling with excitement.

"I know why. He was covering his own tracks." Luna opened her mouth to say something but Sherlock put a finger to her lips and shushed her, closing his eyes as if he were concentrating very hard. Sherlock had a place he called his 'Mind Palace' where he liked to go to sort out information, and he needed utter quiet to do so. He could see Riddles name in his mind…Tom Marvolo Riddle. One of the methods Sherlock liked to use in puzzle solving was anagrams, deciding there was no reason why he shouldn't try it out on this situation as well. He was able to swiftly put together every possible outcome…however, none were more terrifying than the one that was staring him in the face when he was finished. He slowly opened his eyes, which were full of something Luna had never seen there before―fear.

"What is it?" Sherlock grabbed a regular piece of paper off the night stand beside his bed and scribbled Tom's name on it.

"When you rearrange the letters what do you get?" Sherlock moved the letters about every which way, crossing out the ones he'd already used until a certain sentence was written out at the bottom of the parchment.

"I am Lord Voldemort." Luna whispered gently, cupping her hand over her mouth in shock. Sherlock nodded.

"New theory, whoever the heir of Slytherin is must also be the heir of Voldemort…we need to do some research, find out who Tom Riddle was and was not related to." Luna nodded.

"Sherlock, we also need to take this diary to Headmaster Dumbledore. If Tom Riddle is Voldemort, that means that part of him must be inhabiting the book. If that's true…" She trailed off, knowing Sherlock understood perfectly well where she was going with that.

"If that's true, he can come back." Sherlock mumbled, earning a nod of agreement from Luna.

"Exactly." Sherlock was about to ask her whether or not she thought it safe to tell Harry when none other than the Boy Who Lived himself burst through the door.

"Sherlock! Moriarty is the heir of Slytherin!"


	7. Chapter 7

Sherlock and Luna had both decided that because Voldemort was now officially involved, it was their duty to spill everything they knew to Harry, including the suspected entrance to the Chamber in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry asked if he could have the diary, for safe keeping since he was opposed to taking it to Dumbledore just yet, and Sherlock allowed it since everything was out in the open now. The strange thing was, it was almost as if figuring Tom Riddle out had entirely scared Slytherin's monster away, as nothing at all happened for at least five months.

By mid-May, Hogwarts felt like it had almost completely returned to normal. End of the year exams would be coming up soon and everyone was busy studying, especially Hermione, who had missed a lot during her time in the infirmary.

One morning, Sherlock, John, and Luna were having a casual conversation over breakfast in the Great Hall about their Potions final and whether or not Snape was purposely going to fail them. John was happily retorting that _he _wasn't the one who had gotten on Snape's bad side when Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran up to them in a panic.

"It's gone." Harry admitted, looking as if he were going to vomit at any moment. Sherlock narrowed his eyes coldly at the boy, knowing exactly what that meant.

"What is gone?" Luna asked in her velvety voice, giving the trio the benefit of the doubt.

"Riddle's diary," Squeaked Ron.

"Somebody took it." John's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he tilted his head to the side.

"Hang on, it was stolen inside the Common Room, right? That means it had to be a Gryffindor, no one else knows our password." Sherlock scooted his untouched food away from him in frustration, closing his eyes and attempting not to explode.

"Wonderful. We've got a giant muggle-born eating monster on the loose that only Potter seems to be able to hear, and you simple-minded fools decide to leave a giant fragment of You-Know-Who just laying around to be stolen by the heir! Just because a Gryffindor took it does _not _mean they weren't working for him." Sherlock spat, two of the older kids flinching under his scrutiny. The third, Hermione, was too busy having an absolute breakthrough to care whether or not Sherlock was shouting at her.

"Only Harry hears it…that's it! Sorry, I've got to go, I'm bloody brilliant! I'll be in the library!" She rambled excitedly, turning to skip out of the Great Hall with a vast amount of enthusiasm. Being the gentleman that he was, John rose and began to follow her.

"She can't go alone." Sherlock was opposed, but he decided to let that one slide since John had let him win one and actually went home for Christmas when he asked him to. Harry and Ron just sort of walked away, pale and troubled looking. They hadn't planned on staying for breakfast anyway, there was to be another Quidditch match that day and Harry had to go train. Sherlock was still absolutely stewing, and Luna knew he didn't eat very much anyway, so she grabbed his hand and stood up.

"Come on, I know a place we can go for you to cool off." She led him outside and down to where the carriages were parked that would take older students to and from Hogsmeade. Sherlock couldn't help the smile that lit up his face as he realized what she was doing. Resting with the carriages was a flock of large skeletal horses with pure white eyes and wings that resembled that of an enormous bat.

"Thestrals." He mused, looking on Luna lovingly as she sat down in the dirt and allowed one of the babies to approach her. The tiny foal licked and nudged one of her pink Converse's and she gently petted its small head.

"I thought you might like it." She admitted as he sat down beside her, thinking hard of a way he could show her he cared too. Sherlock slid down slightly so that he could awkwardly lean his head on her shoulder and Luna burst into laughter. Sherlock thought she was adorable when she laughed, and he tenderly brushed her hair from her face.

"Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn it shall clasp as sainted maiden whom the angel's named Luna. Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Luna..." Luna turned as pink as her shoes and looked at her hands.

"I don't think that's how that poem goes." She teased, Sherlock's hand still woven in her blonde locks.

"I do." The two sat like that for a good while, just observing the beauty, being with each other. It was a moment neither of them wanted to end, though it was broken up about a half hour later by a frantic Professor McGonagall. The couple was sure they were going to be yelled at for missing first period, so they were surprised when she wiped a tear from her eye and took a deep breath.

"Thank goodness I've found you. There is something the two of you need to see." They followed McGonagall to the hospital wing where Harry and Ron were already hovering over someone laying down. It was Hermione, but that wasn't the worst of it. Sherlock's heart nearly stopped in his chest when he realized who was laying in the bed next to her. _John_.

"N-No I…I told him…he promised he'd be careful." Sherlock muttered to himself, unable to tear his gaze away from John's frozen face. McGonagall pried the mirror Hermione was holding out of her hand and waved it at the children.

"Does this mean anything to any of you?" They all shook their heads. Sherlock blinked away his tears and a heavy determination swelled in his chest. Before it had all just been a compulsive need to be smart and to be right, but now solving this case was personal and he tugged on Luna's wrist hard.

"We're leaving." Once again Sherlock found himself running to Myrtle's bathroom, Luna following close behind. He kicked opened the door and stormed in, pacing back and forth like a madman.

"Luna, do you remember seeing them carrying away that body when we were in Tom Riddle's diary? The girl who died fifty years ago?" Luna nodded slowly, unsure where he was going with it exactly.

"Myrtle how old are you?" He demanded, snapping his head toward her stall.

"I'm twelve." Came the meek reply. Sherlock shook his head furiously.

"No, not the age you were when you died, the age you are right _now_!" Myrtle seemed to think for a moment, counting a few times over on her fingers.

"Well I'm…sixty-two I think." Sherlock nodded diligently as if he had anticipated her answer.

"Yes, good, and how exactly did you die?" Moaning Myrtle had never looked more flattered by a question in all her life.

"Oh it was dreadful. Olive Hornby had been teasing me about my glasses, so I locked myself in one of the stalls crying. But then I heard a voice, some sort of funny language, and when I realized it was a boy speaking I opened the door to tell him to GO AWAY….and then I died." Sherlock's expression was one of both impatience and disbelief.

"You didn't just _die_, no one just up and dies at that age. What, did he shoot you, stab you, hit you with the killing curse? Something!" Myrtle shook her head.

"No, really. I just died. I remember seeing a pair of bright yellow eyes, over there, by that sink." She pointed to the one with the broken tap, the one that had the snake symbol scratched into it.

"So we were right, Luna, that sink _is _the entrance to the chamber! We just need to get in it…" It was about that time that Harry and Ron ran into the bathroom as well, clutching a piece of paper in one of their hands.

"We know what the monster is! Hermione had this piece of paper clutched in her other hand, she solved it! Slytherin's monster is a Basilisk, a giant snake! The paper says that to look into the eyes of a Basilisk is fatal." Sherlock made eye-contact with Myrtle.

"That's what killed her…" Ron and Harry both nodded.

"Right, and it's been getting around in the plumbing, that's why Harry's been hearing it in the walls. What I don't understand is, how come all these attacks have only been petrification's?" Ron asked, Sherlock's face filling with understanding as if a light bulb had gone off inside his head.

"Because no one did look it in the eye. There was water on the floor the night Mrs. Norris was petrified, remember, you slipped in it? I bet she only saw the Basilisk's reflection." Luna nodded, a look of excitement suddenly plastering her face.

"Colin only saw it through his camera, and I'll bet you Justin saw it through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick saw the Basilisk full on, but that's alright because he's already dead." Harry grinned at her, all the pieces finally clicking in his head.

"And Hermione and John saw it's reflection in Hermione's mirror!" Sherlock seemed to relax a little now that they were making progress, a clever idea happening upon him all of a sudden.

"You speak Parseltongue, right Harry? At least that's the rumor going around the school, and it makes sense since you were the only one able to hear the monster, which is basically a giant snake…am I correct?" Harry nodded.

"Brilliant, then maybe you can open the Chamber. The tap won't turn no matter what we've tried…but we've never tried speaking snake." Ron shot Harry an encouraging look and slapped him on the back.

"Go on, Harry! I think Sherlock's on to something." Harry shook his head no, much to the disappointment of his friends.

"No, you guys. I think we've taken this far enough on our own, we need to bring all our evidence against Moriarty to Headmaster Dumbledore. Did you ever find out if he had any relation to You-Know-Who?" Sherlock shook his head grimly.

"We couldn't get our hands on anything." Harry sighed heavily but headed back toward the bathroom door.

"Well, we still need to see Dumbledore. Once he at least knows what we think is going on, I can help him open the chamber, and they can persecute whoever is doing this, Moriarty or not." Everyone agreed, the four of them bursting out of the second-floor lavatory and running as fast as their legs could carry them in the direction of Dumbledore's office.

They didn't make it very far, however, skidding to a stop at the scene of Mrs. Norris's attack, where under the first message in the same scarlet red lettering read 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.' All of the teachers were gathered round, whispering quietly amongst themselves, minus Gilderoy Lockhart, who was just arriving and appearing as carefree and charming as usual.

"What have I missed?" He asked cheerily before noticing the cryptic message on the wall.

"A student has been snatched by the monster, Gilderoy. You're shining moment has arrived." Lockhart opened his mouth to protest when Snape's lips curled into his signature snare.

"That's right, weren't you saying just the other night that you've know about the entrance to the Chamber the entire time?" McGonagall smirked at Snape, a particularly rare occurrence.

"That settles it then. We'll leave the monster to you, Gilderoy." Lockhart flashed a dazzling smile, though he felt quite the opposite, and feigned confidence.

"Very well. I'll just be in my office getting―getting ready." He announced, though his voice had cracked and wavered. The professor turned with a swish of his cloak and strutted off toward his office while Professor Binns leaned into McGonagall.

"Who has it taken, Minerva?" She sighed heavily, her eyes welling with tears as she attempted to choke out the answer.

"Ginny Weasley." Ron nearly fainted then and there, Harry grabbing him by the arm for support. All four children exchanged devastated looks, unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do.

"I say screw wasting our time with Dumbledore, it's a moot point now. We need in that chamber immediately. Let's go after Lockhart." Sherlock advised, Harry nodding and pulling Ron along, who appeared as if he'd just had the life sucked out of him.

"G-Ginny's a pureblood….I don't understand." Ron whimpered as they sprinted to Lockhart's office. Luna's face was plastered with sympathy.

"I think I know…you said a Gryffindor stole the diary…" The realization donned on Ron and he dry heaved hard as they reached the Professor's door. Luna decided to stay with him outside and Harry and Sherlock entered the room. All she could really hear was some raised voices at first and then someone shouted Expelliarmus and before Luna knew it Harry and Sherlock were forcing Professor Lockhart into the hallway. Luna raised an eyebrow at them and let out a dreamy sigh.

"So we've got help then?"

Harry and Sherlock shoved Professor Lockhart into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and locked the door, much to the teacher's dismay. He looked on Harry with horrified eyes as the second year student approached the sinks and began muttering in low almost inaudible hisses. The previously immoveable tap began to spin in circles uncontrollably, soothing Sherlock's OCD greatly as he finally felt like he'd beaten the damn thing. The sink then lowered itself into the floor, revealing a large slimy pipe big enough for a person or two to climb in. Harry and Sherlock smirked at each other, pointing their wands in Lockhart's face.

"You first."


	8. Chapter 8

_*Eleven Years Ago*_

_Bellatrix Lestrange gave a big push, belting out a scream as something warm and small slipped into her arms. It had been nine months since her affair with the Dark Lord, and the guards at Azkaban were less than merciful when it came to the labor of the inmate, who had just given birth alone in her cell. The tiny little baby wailed in her arms, tears running down her pale, starved face as she rocked the little boy gently._

_ "__There, there." She soothed gently, in her high-pitched voice._

_ "__I know you won't know mummy and daddy for a very long time after they take you away, but I've arranged for you to go to the best family. Pureblood they are, as pure as they come. And when the time is right, we'll be together again." She kissed his forehead tenderly as one of the guards banged on the bars of her cell._

_ "__Hurry up and name the little bastard, new family will be here shortly." A stout man hissed at her, slipping a birth certificate through the bars and sneering at Bellatrix. _When I get out of here, _she thought_, I'll kill you first. _She picked up the certificate and groped around for a pen. Pity Voldemort wasn't there to sign it. She signed her name in large, sloppy penmanship, using her maiden name since it wasn't her husband's child. She thought for a little bit, sorting through good names in her head before a large smile stretched across her tired features._

_ "__I think I'll call you Pyxis, that way I know you'll always find your way back to us." She scribbled Pyxis Black on the certificate, knowing the dark lord would prefer it if his old last name was not used. She got to hold her baby for a little more than five minutes after that before a message rang out on the guard's walkie-talkie. _

_ "__The Moriarty's are here." _

*Present Day*

Professor Lockhart was heard whining loudly from the bottom of the pipe once they had forced him to enter the chamber first. _Disgusting, dirty, diseased_…was all they could hear. Harry rolled his eyes and went in after him, attempting to be brave for Ginny. Next came Ron, Sherlock, and then Luna. The one thing they all could agree on, though they hated the bloody git, was that Lockhart was right. The interlocking passageways leading to the chamber were ghastly. Huge piles of snake skin were littered about and a thick slimy ooze was sticking to the bottom of everyone's feet.

"_O-Oh dear_…" Said Lockhart woozily, swaying back on top of Ron in a sort of faint and knocking the wizard's wand from his hand. Gilderoy quickly recovered and made a grab for the wand, a triumphant smile spreading over his face like an infection. Before anyone could shout a plea or protest, Lockhart pointed the wand right at Harry's face.

"Obliviate!" He shouted, a loud snort of laughter coming from Sherlock's direction. _You fool…We all know Weasley's wand is broken._ He thought to himself, watching in delight as the spell backfired onto the older wizard. Unfortunately, however, the huge blast that erupted from Ron's wand shook the entire cavern hard, an avalanche of rocks falling between the friends and trapping Harry, Sherlock, and Luna on the inside. Ron screamed, running up to the pile of rocks and dirt and attempting to dig a path.

"Keep working on that, Ron. We'll need a pathway to get back through, but don't panic. We're going to go get Ginny while you're working, alright?" Ron didn't answer, but his frantic digging and scraping at the wall was response enough. Harry turned to Sherlock with a look of determination.

"Okay, here's the plan. You and I will go in search of the Basilisk, and Luna is going to head the other way and see if she can find Ginny, deal?" Sherlock shook his head adamantly.

"No, she's not going anywhere in here by herself. You're the chosen one, I don't doubt you'll have any trouble with the monster, I'll go with Luna. There is no telling what she may or may not run in to." Harry turned red in the face.

"It's a giant snake!" Luna nodded in agreement with Harry and laid a gentle hand on Sherlock's shoulder.

"He can't go up against the snake alone, Sherlock, I'll be alright by myself." Sherlock and Harry both seemed to be having an internal battle with themselves. Sherlock didn't want Luna to be alone, but didn't want to be a dick and leave Harry Potter to be eaten alive by Slytherin's monster, and Harry didn't much care for being eaten alive but also didn't want to send a little girl into a possible death trap by herself.

"No, I change my mind. Maybe it would be better if I faced the snake alone…I don't want to endanger either of you, it's easy for these monsters to kill." He decided bravely, choking back his fear and nodding at Luna, whose eyes were asking if he were certain.

"Keep her safe, Sherlock." Sherlock reached out for her hand and threaded their fingers together.

"That was always the plan." There were two diverging tunnels between the three students, Harry choosing to go right, and Sherlock and Luna choosing to go left. Sherlock kept Luna close to his side as they walked, distrusting the dark and filthy surroundings. She squeezed his hand in comfort and lay her head on his shoulder for the umpteenth time since she'd met him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Ginny is alright." She noted optimistically, totally misreading Sherlock's anxiousness as worry for Ginny's plight. It wasn't Ginny Weasley that Sherlock cared about, though he supposed he did hope she wasn't totally mutilated or anything. They rounded a few corners, seemingly walking in circles as they peered through all the possible directions to go in and attempted to make the proper decision.

"We're going to get lost…there are far too many tunnels." Sherlock puffed his chest out and huffed, attempting to prove her wrong by putting his detective skills to good use.

"We will not get _lost_. I am Sherlock Holmes!" Even as he said this he felt a pit of dread creeping into his stomach. It was sort of hard to properly deduce which way to go when it was so dark, and as much as he hated to admit it, no matter how good he was with problem solving his sense of direction wasn't what one would consider above average. Suddenly, a distant splashing noise could be heard in the distance and the duo stopped in their tracks.

"Lumos!" Sherlock whispered, a tiny light source beginning to emanate from the tip of his wand. It didn't help much, the two children proceeding toward the noise with utmost caution. An eerie silence had followed the far off splashing, and now even Luna was becoming awfully frightened, gripping Sherlock's arm tightly. He smiled reassuringly at her through the darkness, hoping she could see the sincerity on his face as he attempted to comfort her.

"Don't be scared. I'll protect you." Luna believed that, she did, but it didn't do much to ebb her fear. What were two eleven year old kids going to do against a giant snake? Who even knew whether or not Harry had ventured off in the right direction, what if―her thoughts were cut off by what sounded like a manic laugh that came from the tunnel where they'd heard the splashing. One more bend and they'd be there, Sherlock and Luna exchanging alarmed glances with each other as they approached.

"W-Who's there?" Luna asked quietly as they walked into the tunnel, Sherlock's eyes moving around rapidly in a furious attempt at finding the giggling culprit. There was a dark shadow at the end of the tunnel, appearing as if it tapered off into some sort of room. Sherlock, who was still holding Luna's hand, walked in front and held her securely behind him as he advanced through the open doorway.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to join the party." Laughed a cruel and familiar voice. Sherlock recognized it immediately, and while he'd been expecting Tom Riddle, the presence of this particular individual didn't surprise him either.

"Hello, James." He slurred lazily, shooting the Slytherin boy a dull look. Moriarty stepped forward a few feet, his wide brown eyes crazed and full of vengeance.

"You're right to hide her from me. No telling what I might do, CRAAAAAZY you know!" He squealed the word crazy loudly and swirled his finger around beside his head in the universal symbol for insane. This was Luna's first encounter with James and she shuddered behind Sherlock.

"What are you doing here, James? Tell me you aren't working for that crackpot old fool, Voldemort. Here I thought you were your own bitch." Luna gasped at the sound of his name and Moriarty narrowed his eyes maliciously.

"Very brave, to speak his name. Even braver, I'd day, to blaspheme before his very flesh and blood." Sherlock wasn't surprised by this either, a smug smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.

"Ah, so you are his heir. I figured as much. Could have easily been the Malfoy's, but the Moriarty family could very well be traced back to the Riddles, considering their reputation." James cackled with laughter, his expression twisting into a mix of amusement and hatred.

"You're not as smart as I thought you were, Sherlock. You disappoint me. This has nothing to do with the Moriarty's, not an ounce of Salazar Slytherin's blood runs through their veins." Luna's eyebrows furrowed and she couldn't help the question that escaped her lips.

"B-but you're…" Moriarty looked more than pleased at the pale girl, shooting a smug smile in Sherlock's direction.

"Tell her, Holmes. I'm sure you've figured it out." Sherlock almost didn't want to say what he'd worked out in his mind, the last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

"He's adopted." He muttered, the wide, gleaming grin on Moriarty's face only brightened.

"And who's my dear old daddy? Hm? Have you figured that out, clever boy?" Of course Sherlock had figured it out, it really wasn't rocket science. Then again, rocket science wouldn't have been particularly difficult for him either.

"Voldemort." He stated as matter-of-fact as he could, trying to sound brave for Luna. Of course Moriarty saw right through that, his thin, perfectly arched eyebrows rising in mock-surprise.

"Very good! Turns out my real name is Pyxis…who'd have thought!" His voice grew an octave with each word, an indication to Sherlock that James was in no way happy about is adoptive parents keeping his parentage a secret, he deducted that James hadn't known very long at all.

"You wanna know who told me that, Sherlock?" Moriarty's voice sounded curious and deadly at the same time, Sherlock taking a few steps back as James took a large stride forward. When Sherlock didn't answer, Moriarty exploded.

"MY SOCIAL WORKER!" He bellowed, marching up to Sherlock and standing so close the child could feel the others breath upon his face.

"Your filthy, rat parents told the Ministry of Magic that my parents were Death Eaters and that they knew for fact I was being raised to finish what my birth father started, they got the call last Sunday." Moriarty was whispering this slowly in Sherlock's ear, which was somehow worse than the shouting, and Sherlock shuddered.

"I've just been informed that beginning this summer I am to move in with my blood-traitor of an aunt, Andromeda Tonks, AND IT'S ALL YOUR BASTARD BROTHER'S FAULT!" He shouted, nearly blowing out Sherlock and Luna's eardrums at that distance. Confusion swept across Sherlock's face.

"M-Mycroft?" James rolled his eyes.

"Are you really that dense? I'm talking about Sherrinford, just as much of a hopeless blood-traitor as my aunt!" Sherlock couldn't believe his ears, that was a name his parents had spoken since he was five years old. No one in the family talked about Sherlock and Mycroft's eldest brother, it was forbidden. He didn't remember much, but he'd heard the stories from Mycroft. Sherrinford had apparently been sneaking out to see some muggle girl he fancied during the summer of his fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts. At the beginning of the spring term his sixth year he received a letter by owl that she'd stopped by the house, confessing to their parents that she was with child. Sherlock remembered everyone being really angry, and he vaguely remembered that the muggle, whose name was Elizabeth Edison, was very pretty.

However, things were even worse when Sherrinford got home for the summer holiday. Their father had threatened to disinherit him, though their mother fought valiantly to make sure that didn't happen, and Sherrinford did the right thing and proposed to Elizabeth. The trouble was, a few weeks into her sixth month of pregnancy, Elizabeth and her unborn son were brutally murdered and Sherrinford was sentenced to life in Azkaban, though he swore up and down that he witnessed Lucius Malfoy and Thomas Moriarty kill her. There was evidence to prove that Sherrinford had been held captive, but no DNA evidence to incriminate the other two males, so it was ruled that he had set the entire thing up. Neither Sherlock nor Mycroft had seen their brother sense.

"That's what you think this is. You think my parents ratted yours out as revenge for what they did to my brother?" Moriarty suddenly made a grab for Luna, catching Sherlock completely off guard as he drug her away from him by her hair.

"That's what I _know _it is! Your father is a Death Eater too, he wouldn't have betrayed one of his own out of nowhere! So I've been down here waiting for you, I knew you couldn't resist opening the chamber of secrets once you pieced it all together. I met my father, he's having the time of his life with your little ginger friend…and might I say, when he kills her, I hope it hurts!" He squealed with an inhuman giggle, tightening his grip on Luna's hair and tugging on it hard. She cried out and Sherlock drew his wand, pointing it directly at Moriarty's face.

"Let her go! This is between us, my family and yours. Leave her out of this!" James's eyes darkened and a sick, twisted smirk curled around his lips.

"That may be, Mr. Holmes, but I'm afraid you've got a debt to pay. You're parents stole away my happiness, and now it's my turn to take away yours. Pity we couldn't have killed John too." Moriarty raised his wand and began the incantation for what sounded liked Avada Kedavra and Sherlock's heart stopped beating for a few moments.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted, disarming James and stalking toward him before he had the opportunity to grab his wand. For a split second, Sherlock forgot all about his ability to perform magic and threw every ounce of his weight and strength into a hard punch in the face. Moriarty pushed Luna as he let go of her, her body hitting the floor with a thud and her head slamming pretty hard against the concrete. Sherlock tackled him to the ground, punching him a few more times before remembering his wand and pointing it right in his face.

"I should kill you! Give me one reason why I shouldn't!" Sherlock screamed, tears in his eyes as he looked over at Luna, who was unconscious.

"Because you're on the side of the angels." James explained, yet another twisted Cheshire-like grin gracing is features.

"Oh, I may be on the side of the angels…but don't think for one second that I'm one of them." Sherlock wasn't sure what incantation was going to come out of his mouth, but started to say something when they both heard the sound of someone approaching and Moriarty chuckled.

"See you!" And with a snap of his fingers, he somehow disappeared. Sherlock didn't dwell on the how, running to Luna and scooping her up into his arms.

"Sherlock!" It was Harry's voice, and it sounded like there was another person with him, but he couldn't tear his face away from Luna long enough to look and see. He gently caressed the side of her face and a few of his tears dropped down on her cheek.

"Please be okay."


	9. Chapter 9

Harry ran to Sherlock, Ginny Weasley trailing behind him as they crowded around Sherlock, who had Luna buried into his chest as he was delicately inspecting her head. He tenderly touched two fingers to her neck and wrist before placing a hand on her chest to make sure she was breathing.

"Is she okay?" Asked Ginny quietly as Sherlock turned his head to look back at them, pretending as if he was far more apathetic about it than he really was. He shrugged.

"Should be fine, once we get her to Madam Pomfrey. She hit her head pretty hard. I see you rescued Ginny, where did you get that?" He asked, gesturing toward the large bloody sword Harry was clutching in his hand.

"It's kind of a long story. The important thing is that Ginny is safe, and I destroyed the diary. Hopefully that means Tom Riddle and what was left of Voldemort were both completely destroyed as well." Sherlock shook his head, assuming his normal role as the overly-blunt bringer of bad news.

"I sincerely doubt that is the last we will be seeing of You-Know-Who, but at least we got Riddle out of that diary. Who knows, maybe you wounded him Harry, which is better than nothing." Harry let out a deep breath and nodded, pulling Ginny into his side and wrapping and arm around her.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Sherlock stood, Luna still in his arms, and held her tight against him, making a fuss out of making sure her head was elevated, which Harry and Ginny internally giggled about. When they made it back to where they had left Ron and Lockhart, Ron was just finishing clawing away the last bit of debris while Lockhart was in a corner muttering gibberish to himself. Ron dropped what he was doing immediately as he saw his little sister, running to her and enveloping her in the biggest bear hug any of them had ever seen.

Once safely out of the Chamber, Ron and Harry ran to tell everything to Dumbledore while Ginny saw about what would happen to Professor Lockhart, and Sherlock rushed Luna to the hospital wing. Despite Madame Pomfrey's huffing and puffing about him being in her way, Sherlock stayed by Luna's side and refused to budge until she regained consciousness. When her deep silvery grey eyes began to flutter open, Sherlock held his breath.

"Sh-Sherlock?" He slipped his hand in hers and gave it a very gentle squeeze.

"I'm here. Are you feeling okay?" She incoherently shook her head, her expression twisting into one of pain.

"My head hurts." Sherlock's head snapped in the direction of Madame Pomfrey, who was having a word with Professor Sprout at the infirmary's entrance.

"_Excuse_ me, but your patient is in serious pain, it would be _nice_ if someone could help her!" He barked, earning a scolding look from both adults, who ignored him and went back to what appeared to be an important conversation. Luna shook her head again.

"No, no, it's quite alright. What happened, you aren't hurt are you?" Sherlock's heart gave a tiny lurch and he wondered what on earth this girl was doing to him.

"Here you are lying in the hospital and you're worried about me." He laughed with a shake of his head, using his free hand to brush her hair from her eyes.

"I'm fine. Moriarty pushed you when I attacked him, you cracked your head against the cement. Don't worry though, I bloodied him up for it, I suspect he'll be unrecognizable when they find him." He bragged happily, earning a pitiful giggle from his friend.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked quietly, Sherlock's head tilting to the side curiously.

"Anything." Luna looked as if she almost didn't want to ask it, but the burning need to know was unmistakably written all over her face.

"Moriarty spoke of your brother…the one in Azkaban? I just wanted to know why, that's all. Why would James's parents do something so awful to your brother?" Sherlock's expression grew a little colder, but not toward her. He sighed heavily and looked away from Luna, fearing his eyes would give too much of his feelings away.

"Sherrinford was very different from the rest of our family. He believed what my parents and the rest of the Death Eaters were doing to the Muggle-Borns was wrong, and the night before his own forced initiation was to take place he spilled everything he knew to Dumbledore, got many Death Eaters sent to Azkaban. What Draco and James's families did to him was purely revenge driven. My parents can't touch the Malfoy's because everyone at the Ministry is so ridiculously afraid of Lucius, but I guess they finally decided they could take the Moriarty's down…and they did. In a way though it kind of was a blow to Lucius, Mrs. Moriarty is his sister." Luna was thoughtful for a moment, turning to stare at Sherlock, who still wouldn't look at her.

"You and Mycroft are like him too. I can tell. I think that's very brave of you." Sherlock finally had to look at her, eyes wide and full of something intense, though Luna was unable to put her finger on what the emotion might have been. Sherlock didn't really know either, though it was obvious to him that whatever the feeling was that had welled up inside of him, he liked it. He found himself unconsciously leaning in to her, heart racing, completely unsure what he was about to do, but a shrill voice from behind him caused him to jump back suddenly.

"Mr. Holmes! Never have I had a ruder student in my hospital, and that is saying something! If you are so concerned about Miss Lovegood, then I suggest you give her some room and get out of my way!" Madame Pomfrey raved, furiously pouring some sort of solution in a small glass and handing it to Luna.

"Drink up, dear, it'll mend that nasty bump on your head in a heartbeat. Sit for about five minutes and then you're free to leave. And take _him _with you!" She added nastily, walking off toward John and Hermione as Luna drank the foul tasting liquid in her cup. Sherlock watched Madame Pomfrey closely as she poured something into the mouths of all the petrified people, bouncing to his feet immediately as the realization hit him.

"Luna! Professor Sprout was giving her the Mandrake solution for petrification!" Luna, who was suddenly feeling much better now, sat up in bed and grinned in the direction of John.

"That means―!" She didn't have the opportunity to finish her sentence before John was suddenly stirring in his bed, Sherlock running to his side without a moment's hesitation. John shot up very suddenly and took a much needed sharp intake of breath.

"Sherlock, Sherlock! The monster is a Basilisk!" He yelled quickly, earning a chuckle from his friend, who put his hand on his shoulder.

"I know, John, it's okay. It's dead." An awestricken look crossed John's face, his eyes darting between Sherlock and Luna, who was slowly making her way toward them, and back again.

"How did you do it?!" Sherlock and Luna both shrugged.

"Ask Harry, he's the one that killed it. We were busy dealing with Moriarty." John's eyebrows furrowed in what was only more confusion.

"M-Moriarty? What was up with him, was he the heir?" Sherlock and Luna grinned at each other, a mutual excitement radiating off of both of them.

"Oh we have _loads_ to tell you."

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were seething in Dumbledore's office. While they were very pleased to hear that they wouldn't be expelled, they were horrified to learn that there was going to be absolutely no action taken on James Moriarty, none.

"But Headmaster, you have to believe us, Luna is in the hospital wing right now! We don't know how or why, but Sherlock said he just vanished! Maybe you can disapparate from the Chamber?" Dumbledore shook his wise old head.

"I am afraid there is nothing I can do. It isn't that I don't believe you, quite the contrary. However, we cannot prove that Mr. Moriarty had anything to do with the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets. He was not found at the scene of the crime, and we have enough reason to believe that it was Tom Riddle forcing Ginny to open the Chamber, not James. James was simply down there to cause trouble for our young master Sherlock. Besides, the Moriarty family can be punished no further. Thomas and Alesea Moriarty have recently been sent to Azkaban prison, and I do hope that moving in with his dear sweet aunt will calm James down a bit." Harry and Ron doubted it, but there was no sense in arguing with Dumbledore. One thing was for certain, Sherlock was going to be pissed when he heard.

A week later they found themselves at the last day of the term, and no one had been able to take any of their school exams. Hermione was particularly stressed, though she and Sherlock had made amends and promised to at least try to be nice to each other from now on, and that helped. That night the seven friends all had to split up and go sit with their respective houses for the end of term feast and eagerly await the announcement of who had won the house cup. Sherlock and Luna were sticking close to each other, a little glum that this would be their last night together.

"In light of recent events," Began Dumbledore as McGonagall tapped on her goblet loudly to quiet the crowd.

"All school exams have been cancelled!" The entire school erupted into applause, save for Hermione, who looked utterly devastated.

"And it is now, that I happily announce the winner of the House Cup. In fourth place is Hufflepuff, with 450 house points. Third place goes to Slytherin, with 474 points." Slytherin table erupted with whines and complaints for several moments before they finally let Dumbledore continue.

"Second place is awarded to Ravenclaw, who has 486 points, and the winner, coming in with a grand total of 519 points, GRYFFINDOR!" The Grand Hall exploded with cheers, and though Sherlock and Luna weren't in that house, they both clapped excitedly and grinned at John from across the room.

"We'll get it next year! We will!" Exclaimed Cho Chang, who was sitting in Sherlock and Luna's general vicinity. She had just been made Ravenclaw Seeker, and it appeared as if her goal for next year was to win the house as many points as possible. Luna sighed dreamily and turned a bittersweet expression to Sherlock, who was staring lazily off into the distance.

"I'm going to miss you over the summer." A ghost of a smirk graced Sherlock's most forlorn expression. He attempted to act like he wasn't sort of sad.

"I'll miss you too, and John. But that's what owl post is for." Luna laughed at his horrible acting skills, seeing through the bored and cold expression plastered all over his face.

"Yeah well…I hope you have an owl. I don't think Frodo will get mail to anyone very quickly." Sherlock snorted.

"We have a family owl, thank you. Her name is Doctor Hoo, but we just call her Doc. Don't laugh, Mycroft and I thought that up when we were small." Sherlock defended as Luna burst into a fit of giggles.

"N-No I like it, I think it's clever." The pair couldn't stop grinning at one another after that, Sherlock's mood lifting considerably. They spent the rest of dinner flicking pudding at one another and immersing themselves in an interesting discussion about the psychology of name giving.

Taking the train back home was probably the hardest part of leaving Hogwarts. Every student on board seemed to be filled with dread instead of the blistering excitement that had filled the Express when it had first picked everyone up back in September. Sherlock, John, and Luna moped to their compartment in the back, only to be intercepted by Moriarty, who rudely knocked into John's shoulder with a wicked smirk on his face.

"Eh, well, he may have gotten off, but at least everything's over now, right?" John said hopefully, rubbing his shoulder where the offence had been made. Sherlock stared Moriarty down intensely as he made it back to his own compartment.

"I don't think it is over, John." Sherlock murmured cryptically.

"Not even a little bit."


	10. Chapter 10

As far as Sherlock was concerned, the entire summer had been entirely miserable. It was late in July, almost time for John's birthday in August, and the one and only thing Sherlock had been looking forward to was spending the last month of the summer holiday with his best friend in celebration of his turning twelve. However, despite forcing Sherlock to remain indoors all summer in reaction to renown murderer Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban, his parents had just refused to let their youngest son be seen with a bunch of 'filthy muggle low lives'. Sherlock kicked his bedroom door and slammed it shut in a fit of anger, flopping down on his bed and pulling John's letter up to his face once more.

"_Dear Sherlock,_

_I hope your holiday has been going well since we last corresponded. Mum and dad are really excited to meet you. Have you asked your parents about you joining us for my birthday yet? I hope they aren't too hard on you considering I'm a…well, you know. I regret to tell you that Luna can't come, which I hope doesn't sway your decision any. Luna's dad is a bit nutter's if you don't mind me saying, thinks she and I are going to hook up or something, when we all know Luna's _your_ girl! I didn't invite Harry, Ron, and Hermione…was that wrong of me? I know Ron and Ginny are in Egypt right now and the other two…I dunno, I suppose I thought it would be more fun just the two of us. Hope to hear from you soon, when you get here I can teach you all about things like the telephone, your parents will hate it ;) _

_Yours Truly,_

_J. W._

Sherlock read and re-read it gloomily before stashing it in his pocket and grabbing for a piece of paper, watching John's owl, Castiel, flapping around his bedroom impatiently.

_John,_

_I'm really sorry, my parents won't allow me to go. It sucks that Luna and I are the only two you invited, I don't want you to be alone on your birthday. If it makes you feel any better, though, I got you a pretty amazing birthday present and I will send it with Doc on the proper day. You're going to freak! I'm quite the excellent gift giver if I do say so myself. I'm eagerly awaiting the start of our new term, I hate living here so much. I told Luna this in my last letter to her, but I haven't told anyone else, so don't say anything, but I'm kind of fearful for Mycroft. He seems to think that since he is going to be in his last year of school that he is invincible, and he's been sneaking off more and more frequently to see―oh what is it…George? Gabriel? Well, Lestrade, you know, but that's not the point. I'm getting highly worried that mother and father are going to catch them and I certainly do not wish to be present if they do. I've already lost one brother to their ignorance, I'm not too keen on losing Mycroft too. He won't listen to me though, naturally. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your birthday and I can't wait to see you and Luna on the train. It will feel good to be back. _

_Sincerely,_

_S. H._

_P.S. Luna is _not _my girl…what makes you say that?_

Sherlock tied the letter up neatly and placed it between Castiel's beak, the snowy white barn owl eagerly escaping back through Sherlock's bedroom window. He laid back on his bed and sighed heavily, absentmindedly petting Frodo as he curled into his lap. Mycroft was always with Greg, his parents hardly ever spoke to him, that summer was driving him mad with boredom! He hadn't seen any of his friends, even before it was announced that Sirius had escaped, and the entire situation blew. Sherlock almost liked it better when he had no friends, at least back then it hadn't really felt like such a lonesome life. But now he felt lonely, lonelier than ever before, and what did Sherlock Holmes do when he was bored and lonely? Make trouble.

Sherlock started nine small gaseous fires within his house that day, though the house was so large that no one but perhaps the family house elf noticed. He also took the liberty of writing muggle words on the walls of his father's office (which successfully got him screamed at) and attempting to stick Mycroft's goldfish in the garbage disposal to make 'sushi'. By the end of the week both his parents and his brother were at their wits end with him, which he really hoped was grounds enough to get him sent to John's.

Needless to say, it wasn't. All it got Sherlock was a nice trip to his grandmother's house, which by definition, was not very nice at all. John's birthday came and went and before they all knew it it was finally the end of Sherlock's purgatory, it was time to go back to school. Sherlock was the first person to wake on the morning of September 1st, double checking to make sure all his school things were in order, shove Frodo into his cage, and wait for his parents by the door. Mrs. Holmes rolled her eyes when she caught sight of him.

"Oh, Sherly, darling, is it really necessary to pop your coat collar like that?" The two bickered back and forth almost lovingly to one another for a good while before Mr. Holmes came down and silenced them both with one flash of the eyes. Mycroft was down a moment later, grabbing the pot of floo powder from the mantelpiece and irritably thrusting it in his father's direction.

"Step in, all of you." Sherlock's father's face hardly moved when he spoke, which was normal for him. Mycroft had always liked to describe him as having a permanent stick wedged into his overly-tight arsehole.

"Yes father." They both said simultaneously, stepping into the fire place and attempting to pull in all their belongings with them. Mrs. Holmes gave them both kisses on the cheek, their father's body language telling them they were to be accompanied no further. After exchanging incredibly dull looks with each other, Sherlock and Mycroft immediately called out 'Diagon Alley!'

The two brothers had gotten their school supplies the week before, so instead of going into any of the shops, the Holmes boys headed straight for Platform Nine and Three Quarters at Kings Cross Station. Of course, however, when they entered the Hogwarts Express they went their separate ways, Mycroft quickly securing an empty compartment to snog Lestrade in while Sherlock went in search of his two best friends. Despite his statement in his letter to John, when Sherlock saw Luna his entire face exploded into a blissful expression.

"Luna!" She ran to give him a hug, Sherlock lifting her gently and spinning her around as he held her tightly against him. Sherlock hadn't even realized the extent of just how lonesome he had been the two months they'd been apart.

"Let's find John!" She said happily, pulling away from him and taking his hand, tugging him toward the back of the train. John was sitting by himself in the very compartment that he'd met Sherlock in the year before, and he broke into a grin as he saw the two of them open the sliding doors.

"How are you guys?" He asked bouncily, getting up from his seat to hug them both. Sherlock and Luna gave John a few nice squeezes in return and Sherlock let out a huge sigh.

"A lot better now that I'm back with you guys. I couldn't take much more of my parents and their funny little minds." John rolled his eyes.

"Oh Sherlock, you think that about everybody. Two weeks into school you'll be tired of all us too." He teased, earning a smug smirk in return from his friend. They settled into their seats and began instantly babbling about their summers and their wacko parents. Luna was frustrated that her father had been over-protective and high-strung, John was frustrated with his parents lack of wizarding knowledge and their insistence that he train to become the next Madam Pomfrey, and then of course there were Sherlock's problems.

Everything on the train was normal for several hours, kids buying candy off the trollies and chattering loudly amongst themselves…that is, until it came to an unexpected complete and total stop. The lights began to flicker out one by one and a sudden coldness swept over the train. John and Luna both inched closer to Sherlock, who didn't appear to be phased by any of it.

"W-What's going on?" John asked quietly, his voice trembling as he watched an icy frost creep across the compartment window. All three children could see their breath, which was coming out in huge gushes as they became more and more frightened. Suddenly, a dark figure seemed to be creeping along just outside their sliding door, though none of the children could make much out in the darkness. Sherlock grabbed his wand quickly as their door was pulled back painfully slow, jumping to his feet as there was a sudden flash of light and an ear splitting screech. Sherlock trembled with anger as he realized what had happened, seeing in the light coming from the person's wand that it was none other than Greg Lestrade, who was howling in laughter. Sherlock's eyes flickered from his brother's boyfriend to John in a brief moment of jealousy, having realized that an incredibly frightened Luna had jumped into John's lap.

"I could have hurt you." Sherlock murmured darkly, Lestrade still doubled over in laughter.

"I-I'm sorry, hahaha! It was Mycroft's idea, I couldn't resist." John gently nudged Luna off of him and uttered something comforting in her ear before turning a nasty expression to Lestrade.

"Yeah well, go scream in someone else's ears, will you?" Lestrade opened his mouth to reply but shut it again as the train made an awful jerk. It was only then that a look of semi-seriousness crossed the older wizards face, sliding the door back open.

"I'm going to check on Myc." Sherlock sat back down and tilted Luna's face up to meet his, making sure she understood the reassuring look in his eyes.

"I'm sure it's just technical issues. We should be on our way soon." Luna nodded carefully, looking around the compartment in unease.

"I just hope it isn't an Umgubular Slashkilter….mum was always really afraid of those." She whimpered, snuggling into Sherlock's side. He really wanted to ask what that was, but thought better of it since she seemed so scared. He put an arm around her and couldn't help the extremely arrogant smile that crossed his face.

"Well, if it is, it won't be anything I can't handle." John fought the serious urge to laugh at him, mouthing 'You're a real piece of work' before the Hogwarts Express made another sharp jolt, several girls on the train letting out screams. It wasn't long before yet another shadowy figure was waiting for them on the other side of the door, though this one was very different. The shadow seemed to be hovering, and there was an eerie rattling noise coming from just outside. The door began to slowly slide back, a bony, skeletal hand appearing in the darkness before revealing the rest of the body. Sherlock seemed to be the only one of the three children whose mood brightened when he saw the spine-chilling silhouette.

"See, Luna? It's only a dementor." Sherlock said matter-of-factly, Luna braving a peek from Sherlock's shoulder.

"A what?" She sat up, feeling a whole lot less afraid now that she knew it wasn't an Umgubular Slashkilter.

"A dementor. They are these sort of non-beings that guard prisoners in Azkaban. My eldest brother's best friend at Hogwarts had been Nymphadora Tonks, who's an Auror for the Ministry. Every now and then she'll pop by the house for a chat. Told me all about the dementors she saw while visiting my brother. I expect they must be looking for Sirius Black." The dementor let out a loud rattle and turned its back to the children, floating over to the train compartment across from them. The three of them watched with utmost curiosity as it drew the glass door back, hearing a cat hiss and the sound of a rat frantically squeaking. Sherlock slid out of his seat, fearing for the soul of whoever the dementor was now leaning over, he couldn't see. Before he could do anything, however, someone shouted a spell, a bright blinding white light engulfing the dementor and knocking Sherlock backward. John quickly scrambled to his feet and helped Sherlock up.

"What the―" All at once the light came back on and the train began moving again, warmth returning and everything carrying on as if nothing had happened in the first place. Sherlock and John ran to the compartment across the hall, a million questions running through both of their minds. Harry Potter was passed out on the floor and a man in shabby, poorly patched robes was standing over him.

"Oh, hello, friends of Harry? I'm Professor Remus Lupin, your new defense against the dark arts teacher."


End file.
